The former president Donald Trump signed a recent executive order to freeze credit cards issued by the federal government for a 30-day period. The Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) new “cost-efficiency initiative” is the goal of this initiative. The purpose of the order is to streamline and increase transparency about federal expenditures.
The executive order outlines the limitations of this freeze. It also includes exceptions to credit card usage by employees who are involved in natural disaster response or disaster relief. In consultation with the DOGE Team Lead, agency heads retain authority to give additional exceptions.
The Context of the Issues
DOGE stated that the use of 4.6 millions government credit cards in 2013 accounted for approximately $40 billion. The agency did not provide specific information about the purchases. The DOGE has made some calculations that have been inconsistent in the past. This number is a bit surprising. In one case, DOGE claimed it saved $8 billion on a contract cut with ICE when in fact the value of the contract was just $8 million.
A Congressional Review conducted in 2014 found instances where government credit card accounts were being used for private purchases. Although such misappropriation is alarming, the amount of money spent by an agency on items that were prohibited was only $76,500. This figure was significantly less than the $40 billion reported. The use of government credit card is not well understood. For example, there are purchase cards that can be used for micro purchases.
US federal government has about 4.6 million active credit card/accounts. They processed around 90M transactions in FY24, totaling $40B.
DOGE is working w/ the agencies to simplify the program and reduce admin costs – we will report back in 1 week.https://t.co/Umuc0GLsvW pic.twitter.com/pikYyPIdHP
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 19, 2025
Existing Oversight mechanisms and new proposals
Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2013 mandates that Inspectors of General audit agencies who spend over $10 Million on travel cards. These audits will then be submitted to United States Office of Management and Budget. It is also required that each cardholder’s records, including their transaction limits, be kept.
This executive order details DOGE’s plans to implement a centralized technological system that will track all payments made to agencies via contracts or grants. Each payment must be justified by an agency employee. The real-time tracking of payments in the government is introduced.
It could mean a major shift in the way government expenditures are controlled. Instead of letting individual agencies control their own spending, DOGE would be able to centralize control. It is unclear whether a centralized review will be effective, given the large number of organizations involved and payments. Also, it is unclear which agency leads the DOGE teams. Amy Glenson was said to lead DOGE instead of Elon, as had been rumored. Amy’s exact appointment details, as well as the DOGE leadership’s composition remain opaque. This adds uncertainty to this initiative.
The Reactions to the Attacks on Gaza and their Potential Impact
Doge on X (formerly Twitter),The DOGE works with the agencies in order to simplify the [credit card] program and reduce admin costs—we will report back in 1 week.”
Frank Han is a UIC congenital adult and pediatric cardiologist.The new DOGE has apparently decreed that the General Services Administration will be the recipient of all credit cards issued by the government. That could look like government efficiency until you apply it to Veterans Hospitals—which means a literal hospital is not allowed to resupply itself or transport vets in need of healthcare, because some college students thought they were wasteful.”
According to reports, the DOGE has decreed by order that any government-issued credit card will have a limit of one dollar. This is assigned to General Services Administration. That could look like government efficiency until you apply it to Veterans Hospitals- which…
— Frank Han MD 🇺🇦Pediatric/ACHD/GUCH Cardiologist (@han_francis) February 26, 2025
Legal challenges and future developments
This executive order specifies that card freezing is to be carried out within the legal bounds and allows for exceptions in critical service areas. However, as with previous Trump administrations it’s not impossible that it will face legal challenges. These legal challenges examine how the executive’s authority compares to current laws on agency expenditures and monitoring mechanisms. If a court case is pursued, it will likely examine whether or not the executive order exceeds legal boundaries, and if so, whether this infringes on the authority of agencies.