President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday that put a temporary freeze on the use of federal credit cards, the New York Post reported.
Government-issued credit cards will be frozen for 30 days as part of the larger "Cost Efficiency Initiative" to reign in federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans by requiring federal agencies to develop a centralized system to record and justify payments. "To the maximum extent permitted by law, all credit cards held by agency employees shall be treated as frozen for 30 days from the date of this order," read the portion on government credit cards.
The pause is part of the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative to weed out federal "waste, fraud, and abuse." DOGE has discovered the U.S. government has some 4.6 million active credit cards or credit card accounts on file, far exceeding the total number of government workers which is approximately 3 million, not including contractors or active duty military.
Those cards have accounted for roughly 90 million transactions and nearly $40 billion in 2024 alone. "DOGE is working with the agencies to simplify the program and reduce administration costs — we will report back in a week," DOGE posted on X last week.
The order carves out exemptions for "any credit cards held by employees engaged in, or charges related to employees utilizing such credit cards for, disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits or operations or other critical services."
Other measures in Wednesday’s order include a spending justification system, nonessential travel limits, and real estate assessments to identify unused federal buildings and land that can be sold to reduce costs. The administration gave agencies 30 days to complete their preliminary review of contracts and grants with the full real estate disposition plan required within 60 days.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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