Apr 7, 2025
President Donald Trump has ordered a 30-day freeze on 4.6 million government-issued credit cards as part of a larger effort to tighten federal spending.
“This order commences a transformation in Federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans to ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public,” the order states.
Advertisement
The directive falls under the administration’s Cost Efficiency Initiative, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) program, which tweeted that nearly $40 billion was charged to government-issued credit cards last year.
By late March, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) program led by Elon Musk had fully cancelled 315,000 federal credit cards.
Cutting costs and programs
With a federal budget promising $4.5 trillion in income tax cuts, the credit-card freeze is one aspect of the Trump administration’s effort to find $2 trillion in savings to pay for those cuts.
Over the years, government watchdogs have uncovered credit-card misuse, revealing charges ranging from Lego sets to multi-course meals. Last year, as the Federal Times reported, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley grilled the Pentagon on its use of credit cards earmarked for COVID-19 expenditures to purchase Nordic skiing machines, among other items.
But beyond credit cards, Trump has made it clear his top priority in shrinking the workforce. On Jan. 20, he signed an executive order to freeze civilian hiring across departments and agencies, including the IRS. Thousands of probationary employees without civil service protections have been cut.
“We’re bloated. We’re sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren’t doing their job,” Trump said Wednesday, when he announced plans to slash up to 65% of staff at the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has already been effectively shuttered.
Must Read
- Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — here’s what it is and the simple steps to fix it ASAP
- Robert Kiyosaki begs investors not to miss this ‘explosion’ — says this 1 asset will surge 400% in a year
- Vanguard reveals what could be coming for U.S. stocks, and it’s raising alarm bells for retirees. Here’s why and how to protect yourself
Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
Programs impact millions of Americans
Meanwhile, workers at the Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration are bracing for similar cuts, raising serious concerns about how these reductions will affect critical services relied on by millions of Americans.
Even the credit-card freeze has left some federal workers concerned about how their departments are supposed to function and serve Americans on a daily basis.
“Are [federal] employees still supposed to travel? Are they just supposed to use their personal cards and hope they get paid back?" one government employee asked Newsweek.
You May Also Like
- Turning 50 with $0 saved for retirement? Most people don’t realize they’re actually just entering their prime earning decade. Here are 6 ways to catch up fast
- This 20-year-old lotto winner refused $1M in cash and chose $1,000/week for life. Now she’s getting slammed for it. Which option would you pick?
- Warren Buffett used these 8 repeatable money rules to turn $9,800 into a $150B fortune. Start using them today to get rich (and stay rich)
- Here are 5 easy ways to own multiple properties like Bezos and Beyoncé. You can start with $10 (and no, you don’t have to manage a single thing)
Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based Staff Reporter at Moneywise, where she covers the intersection of personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, a postgraduate certificate in Publishing from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Master’s degree in American Journalism from New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her work has been featured in publications including Apple News, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, Her Campus Media and The Click.
