Sen. Joni Ernst on Friday introduced legislation aimed at forcing federal agencies to deactivate government-issued credit cards as soon as employees leave their positions, a response to a recent audit that found more active cards than federal workers.
The measure, called the Deactivating and Eliminating Cards Linked to Inactive or Nonexistent Employees (DECLINE) Act, would require agencies to cancel agency charge cards on an employee’s separation from government service. "Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for bureaucrats to swipe away at casinos, night clubs and bars," Ernst said in a written statement, and she added that it is "long past time to DECLINE these absurd payments and ensure that when a federal employee stops working, their taxpayer-funded credit card does too. Bygone bureaucrats shouldn’t be allowed to treat government credit cards like gift cards."
Ernst introduced the bill after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) conducted an analysis earlier this year that found roughly 4.6 million active federal charge cards were used for about $40 billion in spending across more than 90 million transactions during the last fiscal year. Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited with the report showed the federal government employed roughly 3 million people at the time, creating a discrepancy between the number of active cards and the number of employees.
The DOGE review prompted the administration to begin canceling hundreds of thousands of agency-issued cards and tightening internal controls, the senator said. The Pentagon inspector general also reported that the Defense Department was billed for about 8,000 charge-card transactions at what it described as "high-risk locations," including casino ATMs, and more than 3,200 transactions at nightclubs and bars that occurred around events such as the Super Bowl and New Year’s Eve.
The DECLINE Act would require agencies to implement systems that more promptly terminate access to charge cards when employees depart, and it would direct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a comprehensive review of agency policies governing agency-issued cards. Ernst has already asked the GAO to review the policies, according to her office.
The bill arrives amid other efforts to tighten oversight of government purchasing and charge cards. The Trump administration previously emphasized cracking down on misuse of agency cards, and supporters of stricter controls point to several high-profile cases of alleged fraud and misuse. Officials have cited an instance at Fort Benning in which a military cardholder charged about $30,000 in personal goods that went undetected until after the cardholder retired. Another inquiry found an Army recruiter provided his government card to an associate who made roughly $13,000 in purchases including food and automotive parts.
Federal prosecutors have also pursued criminal cases tied to misuse of government cards. The Justice Department prosecuted a Drug Enforcement Administration employee who allegedly submitted applications for charge cards in the names of fake employees, and a member of the Texas National Guard was ordered to pay roughly $75,000 after authorities said he stole government fuel cards.
A separate effort by a private-sector team reportedly targeted federal charge-card vulnerabilities earlier this year, prompting renewed attention to how agencies manage card issuance and monitoring.
Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, has led Senate efforts to curb what she and allies describe as government waste. Last week she announced she will not seek another term in 2026, and her staff said the legislation is part of a broader push to tighten financial controls before she leaves office.
The DECLINE Act now moves to committee, where staff and lawmakers will review the bill’s requirements and potential implementation challenges. If enacted, agencies would be required to adopt procedures to terminate card access promptly upon employee separation and to provide GAO with information used to oversee those procedures.
Lawmakers and agency officials will weigh the bill against existing controls and the logistical burden of ensuring charge cards are deactivated immediately upon personnel changes. Proponents say sharper rules and automated deactivation would reduce the opportunity for misuse and lower costs to taxpayers, while agency managers and oversight bodies will consider how to reconcile real-time personnel changes with card-account systems and contractor access.
The proposal follows multiple internal and external reviews of charge-card programs intended to improve reconciliation, reporting and accountability. Officials familiar with the audits say better linkages between personnel records and card-account management could prevent cards from remaining active after an employee leaves. Enforcement actions and prosecutions in recent years have underscored the vulnerabilities watchdogs aim to address.
The timing of the bill coincides with a broader congressional focus on federal spending controls. If committees advance the measure, congressional debate is likely to consider the scope of required system changes, transition timelines and whether the federal IT and human resources systems can be linked to achieve near-immediate deactivation of cards. Advocates for the change argue that requiring deactivation at separation is a straightforward step to reduce waste and fraud; agency officials and oversight bodies will examine the operational and technical steps necessary to carry it out.
As the legislation proceeds, the GAO review requested by Ernst could provide lawmakers with further documentation of current practices and options for statutory or regulatory fixes to ensure agency-issued credit cards cannot be used after employment ends.