DOGE Announces Deactivation of 500,000 Federal Credit Cards

The organization said the cards are ‘unneeded’ or ‘unused.’

Credit cards, in this file photo. Mike Stewart/AP Photo

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said on May 7 that it has canceled about half a million “unneeded” credit cards used by federal agencies.

In a post on social media platform X, DOGE wrote 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, out of roughly 4.6 million active cards and accounts used by the government.

“So, still more work to do,” the organization wrote in the 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, Labor Department, Small Business Association, Treasury Department, Commerce Department, Interior Department, Education Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Housing and Urban Development Department, Defense Department, Health and Human Services Department, State Department, and others.

The May 7 statement 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 reposted DOGE’s comment and claimed that “twice as many credit cards are issued and active than the total number of government employees.”

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 congressional Democrats alleged that DOGE, the Trump administration, and Musk were holding up some $430 billion in funds that they said were appropriated by Congress.

Trump’s drive to downsize and reshape the federal government has already led to the dismantling of entire agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development 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 must depart.

Musk told Tesla investors last week that he would be stepping away from DOGE and the Trump administration in May. However, he said 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 Cabinet meeting on April 30 that 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.