DOGE cancels over 500,000 federal credit cards in sweeping spending crackdown

Just two days after tech billionaire Elon Musk stepped down from his role in the Trump administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced the cancellation of over half a million federal government credit cards as part of its ongoing crackdown on government spending.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), DOGE revealed it had deactivated 523,000 cards following a comprehensive 13-week audit, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The deactivated cards belonged to a wide range of federal agencies, including NASA, the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Treasury, Education, Interior, Commerce, Agriculture, and State departments.

"After 13 weeks, the program auditing unused and unnecessary credit cards across 32 agencies has led to roughly 523,000 cards being deactivated. At the start, there were approximately 4.6 million active cards/accounts. We are now expanding the program to include more agencies because there is still much work to be done," the announcement stated.

This initiative follows a February executive order from President Trump, which temporarily froze nearly all agency employee credit cards except those used for disaster relief, natural disaster response, or other essential services. Agency leaders and DOGE officials have also granted exemptions to some cardholders on a case-by-case basis.

On February 18, DOGE announced a partnership with federal agencies aimed at streamlining credit card use and reducing administrative costs. The program targeted about 4.6 million federal credit cards and 90 million individual transactions recorded during the 2024 fiscal year. Shortly after, President Trump signed an order freezing agency employee credit card use for 30 days.

Proponents of DOGE’s efforts argue that these cuts are crucial to reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. However, critics say the reductions have hampered government operations, making it harder to acquire essential supplies and pay for critical services.

Earlier this month, DOGE’s campaign to cut spending intensified with the suspension of more than 500,000 credit cards from 32 agencies. The task force, led by Elon Musk and established by executive order after Trump’s return to office in January, is focused on shrinking the federal workforce and eliminating waste. Given that $40 billion in annual federal spending flows through government credit cards, the campaign targets non-essential expenses that often go unnoticed.

Back in March, DOGE deactivated 200,000 cards from 16 agencies, and since then, that number has more than doubled. However, these drastic cuts have caused some operational challenges. For example, when TSA’s cards were restricted in March, the agency temporarily could not make purchases for its bomb-sniffing dog units. A TSA spokesperson told media, "Credit card purchases have been restricted for 30 days, but canine operations have not been adversely affected by this effort."

Elon Musk, who has served as a senior adviser to the president and head of DOGE, confirmed his departure from the White House. On X, he stated that although he is leaving as the 130-day limit on his special government employee status nears, DOGE’s mission will "only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."

By Tamilla Hasanova