Elon Musk’s U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has suspended the process of identifying the remains of U.S. soldiers still missing from the Korean War, citing cost-cutting measures.
According to a report from the Washington Post on Sunday, the U.S. Army has stopped payments to private investigators who were tracking down the families and relatives of long-missing service members. As a result, efforts to identify the remains, which are believed to belong to soldiers who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, have been effectively halted.
The issue began when DOGE, led by Musk, imposed drastic cuts on government procurement cards, reducing purchase limits to just $1 to curb spending and waste. As of Wednesday, DOGE had suspended 146,000 government procurement cards across 16 agencies, halting critical operations purchases. The suspension is being expanded to additional agencies as well.
In February, Musk remarked, “There are still almost twice as many credit/purchasing cards as people in the government,” adding, “A lot of shady expenditures happening.”
Government procurement cards are designed to improve spending transparency. They issued specific limits based on their purpose, including travel expenses and goods purchases. However, the DOGE’s suspension of these cards caused significant disruptions across multiple federal agencies.
The suspension has halted the Department of Defense’s critical research and development activities. Scientists and engineers can no longer purchase experimental materials, and efforts to procure protective gear, medical supplies, and firefighting equipment have reached a standstill. At the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the suspension has made it impossible to order essential lab supplies, such as personal protective equipment and ethanol for surface sterilization.
Last month, agencies like the National Park Service (NPS) experienced operational gridlock after travel and procurement cards were reduced to a $1 limit, causing disruptions across the board. A Treasury Department official told the Washington Post, “I haven’t decided what to spend my $1 on yet. I think a pack of gum & a Powerball ticket are both at least $2.”