DOGE Announces Deactivation of 500,000 Federal Credit Cards

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said on Wednesday that it has canceled around half a million “unneeded” credit cards used by federal agencies.

In a “credit card update,” DOGE said on its social media account on X on Wednesday that over the past 10 weeks, its program to audit “unused” or “unneeded” credit cards has been expanded to 32 federal agencies.

DOGE, led by tech billionaire and Trump administration adviser Elon Musk, said that more than 500,000 agency credit cards were deactivated in that time period. That number is out of roughly 4.6 million active cards and accounts used by the government.

“So, still more work to do,” the organization wrote in its post, which included a screenshot of a spreadsheet showing the canceled agency cards.

The spreadsheet showing what cards were canceled included ones used by the Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration, Department of Labor, Small Business Association, Treasury Department, Commerce Department, Department of the Interior, Education Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, State Department, and others.

The statement Wednesday means that DOGE has canceled another 30,000 credit cards used by agencies since mid-April, when it provided the last update on the effort.

At the time, Musk re-posted DOGE’s comment and claimed that “twice as many credit cards are issued and active than the total number of government employees.”

Aside from the credit card cancellations, DOGE’s website says that it has saved about $165 billion, or $1,000 per taxpayer, since it was established through an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in January.

Days before that, top House and Senate Democrats alleged that DOGE, the Trump administration, and Musk are holding up some $430 billion in funds that they say were appropriated by Congress.

Trump’s drive to downsize and reshape the government has already led to the dismantling of entire agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

DOGE has been a major part of that effort, and the White House has said it is responsible for tackling what it calls fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government while streamlining operations.

The government overhaul has led to numerous lawsuits seeking to block the Trump administration and DOGE from proceeding with some of the planned dismissals and other activities.

Musk’s government tenure is nearing its end. As a special government employee, the Tesla CEO is allowed only 130 days to work before he has to depart.

Musk told Tesla investors last week that he would be stepping away from DOGE and the Trump administration in May. However, he said that he would still be involved in some capacity to ensure that DOGE’s cuts remain intact. In its quarterly report released on April 23, Tesla posted lower-than-anticipated profits due to a variety of factors.

Musk told Trump at a White House Cabinet meeting on April 30 that he was leaving. He said it had “been an honor“ to work with his ”incredible Cabinet” and with Trump himself.

“A tremendous amount has been accomplished in the first 100 days,” Musk said. “As everyone has said, it’s more than has been accomplished in any administration before. Ever. So this portends very well for what happens, for the rest of the administration.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

 

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