The US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has launched an investigation into federal employee charge card spending, following a startling audit revealing that government bureaucrats maintain approximately 4.6 million active charge card accounts, racking up $40 billion in spending in the last fiscal year alone.
The probe follows a report released this month by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has already deactivated over 500,000 unused or unnecessary federal charge accounts. The DOGE findings raised red flags about potential abuse, waste, and fraud, especially within the Department of Defense.
Among the most disturbing revelations: more than 11,000 transactions at “known high-risk merchants,” including casinos, bars, nightclubs, massage parlors, and adult entertainment venues.
The Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, along with Senate DOGE Caucus Chair Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has called for a comprehensive government-wide review of federal charge card usage. In a detailed letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the lawmakers demanded answers and reforms.
“With tens of billions in taxpayer funds at stake each year, a comprehensive assessment is urgently needed to identify systemic risks, eliminate inefficiencies, and restore accountability,” the letter reads.
The audit from DOGE cited a January 2025 Department of Defense Inspector General report that found 7,805 transactions at high-risk businesses such as casino ATMs and mobile app stores, and 3,246 purchases at bars and nightclubs during holidays or major sporting events.
The GAO has previously flagged similar issues, including a lack of oversight tools, poor data analysis to detect fraud, and unclear criteria for card issuance.
Defense officials in charge of purchasing who were interviewed by GAO were unable to provide examples of how they analyze card spending to identify cost savings or detect misuse.
The lawmakers have asked GAO to examine transaction data across a sweeping array of Merchant Category Codes tied to questionable spending, including:
- Adult entertainment and gambling (MCC 7841, 7995, 9754)
- Online dating services (MCC 7273, 7277)
- Luxury and non-essential items like fur shops, wig stores, and jewelry (MCCs 5681, 5698, 5094)
- Cannabis and vaping products (MCCs 8398, 5993)
- Massage parlors and beauty spas (MCCs 7297, 7298)
- Cruise lines and timeshares (MCCs 4411, 7012)
- Weight loss products, babysitting services, and horoscopes (MCCs 5499, 7295, 7999)
Comer and Ernst are seeking answers to 12 key areas of concern, including:
- How agencies determine which employees receive charge cards
- Monitoring controls and enforcement actions for misuse
- Frequency of high-risk transactions
- Use of anti-fraud systems such as Visa’s IntelliLink
- Amount spent on late fees and inactive card management
- Best practices from agencies with effective card controls
The Oversight Committee’s request builds on two decades of reports from GAO highlighting persistent problems in the federal charge card system, dating back as far as 2003.
The Government Accountability Office has not yet issued a timeline for the review.
Please, please, let’s have a list of names to go with the charges!
I’ve been hearing about this for years from federal employees. They know it’s happening but are powerless to do anything about it. If I did any of these things with my corporate p-card, just once, I would be disciplined. I would expect to be. Twice and I would be perp-walked through the front door with everybody pointing and whispering, fired for cause and see a “not eligible for rehire” put in my file for every future prospective employee to review before considering hiring me. Why is this not occurring? No federal employee is so valuable and irreplaceable that they cannot be fired for stealing from their employer – the taxpayer.
Anyone, and their supervisor, found to be participating in this fraud should be summarily dismissed and prosecuted. They should also be required to pay back al the money, even if the government has to take every thing they own to get the money back.
It seems to me that any government credit card should be declined when a charge using the codes is initiated. Any merchant or card vendor should be charged with felony fraud & closed down if charges are allowed. Problem solved.
And that’s just Hunter..
badum tsss
Are the federal cardholders going to be expected to pay all fraudulent charges back to the government and lose their job or be put on unpaid leave/disciplined? If this were to happen at the SOA worker bee level, heads would roll and somebody would be disciplined or fired for misuse of the “ONE CARD ALASKA”. Must be different set of rule enforcement with the feds.
https://doa.alaska.gov/dof/manuals/aam/resource/38.pdf
Use of the Card in any manner not in accordance with these program policies may result in personal liability, revocation of the Card and all purchasing authority, and disciplinary action up to and including dismissal
in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Misuse of the Card may constitute a violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, which may result in civil penalties of up to $5,000. Additionally, unauthorized use of a card for personal purposes is THEFT under AS 11.46. If the amount of the personal use is over $500, the cardholder may be subject to FELONY prosecution.
No wonder the Democrats are losing their minds over DOGE cuts in spending.
DOGE is cutting in on their gambling, sexual favor and luxury spending.
Those are tough habits to break.
Keep on chipping away at the waste and the ship may not sink or at least delay the point of no return.
And like everything else NOTHING will happen to anyone involved
Well, if some of those gov’t. charge card holders aren’t careful, they’ll end up receiving some really gosh darned stern letters from the oversight committee.