- Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has slashed limits on spending cards to just $1, impacting activities across the federal government, including work for the military. That includes research on lifesaving equipment, while genealogy services critical to the identification of soldiers killed in wars from decades ago got an exception.
A freeze on federal purchase cards imposed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is reportedly freezing certain activities related to the military, too.
As part of its broader cost-cutting drive, DOGE has eliminated thousands of cards and reduced the spending limits on others to just $1, impacting work across federal agencies.
Sources told the Washington Post a Defense Department memo announcing the freeze shocked researchers who are developing lifesaving equipment, such as helmets, medical supplies, flame-resistant uniforms, and cold-weather gear.
That’s because the card freeze will affect purchases of materials and other items researchers need to conduct experiments, including on body armor and helmet impacts. About 100 such purchases are made every week, the report said.
While DOGE’s card freeze affects the development of protective gear for troops, Army leadership has signaled its emphasis on war fighters.
“I spent today with senior leaders and commanders from across the Army discussing the fiscal environment and implications for the future,” a commanding officer told staff in an email obtained by the Post. “The reality is that the Army has some tough decisions ahead—we must prioritize resources towards those functions which are most critical to enhancing war-fighter capability and lethality.”
DOGE’s card freeze also presented an obstacle to efforts to identify the remains of soldiers killed in action decades ago, though an exception was later made.
Genealogists working as contractors told the Post the Army couldn’t pay for their services as a result of the freeze. The genealogists research family trees to locate relatives of soldiers who have been missing since World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War—most of whom were killed. With information on surviving family members, the military can collect DNA to help identify remains.
“In accordance with executive guidance, the credit limit on all Government Purchase Cards is reduced to $1. The genealogy efforts currently underway continue, as U.S. Army Human Resources Command has initiated an exception to policy to resume making payments when the work is complete. The work of Army genealogists is important to accurately identify and return to families Soldier remains already repatriated,” Army spokesperson Christopher Surridge told Fortune in a statement.
The U.S. DOGE Service didn’t immediately respond to Fortune’s requests for comment.
That follows separate reports of disruptions in other corners of the federal government. The cards handle $30 billion a year in transactions for basic supplies and services—from legal fees to gas—that federal workers use in the course of business.
Social Security employees have been unable to create UPS shipping labels after their cards were limited, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
Another federal employee told the Journal they weren’t able to pay for cell phone plans or Microsoft 365 software licenses, or to pay a $619 monthly bill for Amazon Web Services.
One employee at the Food and Drug Administration recently tried to put in an order for pipette tips, a basic lab item, Wired reported. However, that order was put on hold.
And one employee at the Environmental Protection Agency also told Wired they couldn’t buy liquid nitrogen that’s needed to store environmental samples in freezers.
