The Department of Government Efficiency announced Tuesday it has canceled more than 200,000 government credit cards in a post on X.
DOGE, which is overseen by White House advisor Elon Musk, said on Feb. 18 that it was working with agencies to simplify the credit card accounts and reduce admin costs. It estimated the federal government had 4.6 million credit cards and 90 million unique transactions in the fiscal year 2024, USA Today reported.
A week later, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to commence a “transformation in Federal spending,” that called for a 30-day freeze on agency employee credit cards.
On Tuesday, DOGE released its three-week update on canceled credit cards, noting that the pilot program is auditing 16 agencies. The Health and Human Services Department and the Department of the Interior made “great progress this past week.”
Trump and Musk have long advocated for significant reductions in government spending, including the laying off of over 100,000 federal employees, USA Today noted further.
The credit card freeze order carves out an exemption for employees “utilizing such credit cards for disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits or operations or other critical services as determined by the Agency Head.”
Civilian employees at the Department of Defense face a $1 limit on their government travel credit cards, according to a memo dated March 5. Travel “in direct support of military operations or a permanent change of station” will be exempt, says the memo.
Earlier this month, Trump praised the work of Musk in exposing wasteful government spending. Musk is already the number one enemy of Democrats. After that, he told Musk to do even more.
“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, with typical all-caps emphasis. “REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!”
“Will do, Mr. President!” Musk wrote in response.
Trump on Tuesday also announced that attacks on Tesla dealerships would be treated as domestic terrorism, the same day he showcased his purchase of a red Tesla at the White House.
“I will do that. I’ll do it. I’m going to stop them … Those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about attacks while standing alongside Elon Musk, the CEO of the electric vehicle maker.
“We already know who some of them are,” Trump added. “We’re gonna catch ’em. They’re bad guys. They’re the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities — the same garbage.”
Trump also said that he feels the same about attacks on any American company, not just Tesla.
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“Let me tell you, you do it to Tesla you do it to any company, you’re gonna go through hell,” Trump added.
There have been attacks on Tesla dealerships in Massachusetts, Colorado, New York, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.
