DOGE Strikes: 500,000 Government Credit Cards Deactivated in Historic Waste Reduction

Noah Stanton – The federal government’s credit card habit has long been Washington’s equivalent of a shopaholic with no spending limit and no one checking the statements. For decades, taxpayers have watched their hard-earned dollars disappear into a bureaucratic abyss while politicians made empty promises about fiscal responsibility and eliminating waste. The familiar pattern: grand declarations followed by business as usual, with government spending ballooning year after year.

When President Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through executive order in January, many Americans responded with understandable skepticism. After all, government efficiency often ranks alongside “military intelligence” and “civil service” on the list of Washington’s most famous oxymorons. But unlike previous administrations that talked about tackling waste while expanding it, Trump put someone in charge who has a documented track record of ruthlessly cutting inefficiencies—billionaire Elon Musk.

DOGE began by examining what most Americans would find shocking—the government’s massive credit card portfolio. While most families might juggle two or three credit cards, the federal government maintained a staggering 4.6 million active credit cards and accounts, despite employing only about 2 million federal workers. Some might call that excessive. Others might call it the definition of governmental bloat.

Now, after just months of operation, DOGE has taken decisive action that’s sending shockwaves through federal agencies. The efficiency task force has deactivated over half a million government-issued credit cards deemed unused or unnecessary, with promises of more cuts to come.

From ‘Breitbart News’:

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has acted on Elon Musk’s orders and deactivated over 500,000 government-issued unused/unneeded credit cards with the promise of more to come. The push to curb fraud and slash federal spending marks the beginning of a sweeping efficiency drive that now affects more than 30 federal agencies as promised by President Donald Trump in his bid to end wasteful government dispersal of taxpayer dollars.

The scale of the government’s credit card program is difficult for most Americans to comprehend. These cards racked up a staggering $39.7 billion in more than 90 million transactions just last fiscal year. That represents an alarming increase of nearly $7 billion in spending over just a two-year period.

For perspective, that increase alone could fund entire state budgets or major infrastructure projects. And yet, when was the last time you heard a Washington bureaucrat worry about maxing out a credit card? That’s the difference between spending your own money and spending someone else’s.

DOGE’s credit card deactivation initiative has expanded rapidly. What began as an audit of 16 agencies involving 200,000 cards has now grown to encompass 32 federal agencies and over 500,000 deactivated cards. That’s more than one-tenth of all government credit cards now disabled—and DOGE has made it clear they’re just getting started. I’d bet good money that the bureaucrats who’ve been enjoying their government plastic are sweating bullets right about now.

Not everyone is celebrating these cuts, of course. Some federal employees have complained about operational difficulties, like the temporary challenges faced by TSA’s bomb-sniffing dog units when their cards were deactivated. But such minor inconveniences pale in comparison to the decades of unchecked spending that’s contributed to our national debt crisis. Isn’t it interesting how quickly “essential” spending becomes manageable when the easy money disappears?

I’ve watched for years as politicians from both parties have promised to tackle government waste. They’ve established commissions, held hearings, and issued reports that gathered dust while spending continued to skyrocket. The difference now is that we’re seeing actual results instead of rhetoric. Real cards are being cut up. Real spending is being curtailed. Real waste is being eliminated.

What DOGE is doing represents more than just fiscal prudence—it’s a fundamental shift in how government views its relationship with taxpayer money. For too long, bureaucrats have treated the federal treasury as an unlimited resource rather than the product of hardworking Americans’ labor. Every dollar the government spends comes from someone’s paycheck, someone’s business, someone’s dream. And let me tell you, as someone who’s watched Washington’s wasteful ways for decades, this feels like a breath of fresh air in the stale corridors of government spending.

This credit card cleanup is likely just the opening salvo in a broader campaign to restore fiscal sanity to Washington. If half a million unnecessary credit cards can be identified so quickly, imagine what other wasteful spending practices are lurking in agency budgets. The path to smaller, more efficient government doesn’t require complex legislation or years of planning—it simply requires the political will to say “enough” and leaders willing to follow through.

For taxpayers who have felt powerless watching Washington’s spending spree, this represents a rare moment of vindication. Perhaps the era of the blank government check is finally coming to an end. And that’s something worth celebrating, regardless of which side of the political aisle you sit on—though I suspect it’s mostly those of us on the right who’ve been waiting for this day the longest.

SF Source Stand for Freedom May 2025