Guest “DOGE, Baby, DOGE!” by David Middleton
Federal Science Hamstrung by DOGE’s Credit Card Spending Limit
The agency froze most spending above $1. Government researchers now struggle to carry out basic functions of their jobs.
By Emily Mullin and Zoë Schiffer, WIRED
03.11.2025Last month, President Donald Trump’s administration placed a $1 spending limit on most government-issued credit cards that federal employees use to cover travel and work expenses. The impacts are already widely felt.
At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, scientists aren’t able to order equipment used to repair ships and radars. At the Food and Drug Administration, laboratories are experiencing delays in ordering basic supplies. At the National Park Service, employees are canceling trips to oversee crucial maintenance work. And at the Department of Agriculture and the Federal Aviation Administration, employees worry that mission-critical projects could be stalled. In many cases, employees are already unable to carry out the basic functions of their job.
[…]
The credit card program allows federal workers to bypass the typical procurement process required to buy goods and services. A 2002 report from the Department of Commerce said that, “by avoiding the formal procurement process, GSA estimates the annual savings to be $1.2 billion.” It also enables federal employees to avoid paying sales tax on expenses that the government is exempt from.
[…]
The spending limits reflect Musk’s belief in zero-based budgeting. After he purchased Twitter, he slashed the budget to zero and forced employees to justify every expense. He also froze people’s corporate credit cards.
[…]
Emily Mullin is a staff writer at WIRED, covering biotechnology.
Zoë Schiffer oversees coverage of business and Silicon Valley at WIRED.
Kate Knibbs and Aarian Marshall contributed to this reporting.
I’ve worked in the oil & gas industry since 1981, including a six-year stint as Vice President of Exploration for Company #4, I’ve never had a corporate Mastercard, Visa, American Express or other general purpose credit card. Back in the early days of my career, companies often issued airline and rental car credit cards, specifically for corporate travel. However, for the vast majority of my career, I had to pay for my own travel expenses and then submit an expense report for reimbursement.
This bit here is simply preposterous:
The credit card program allows federal workers to bypass the typical procurement process required to buy goods and services. A 2002 report from the Department of Commerce said that, “by avoiding the formal procurement process, GSA estimates the annual savings to be $1.2 billion.” It also enables federal employees to avoid paying sales tax on expenses that the government is exempt from.
This is from the actual report:
A U.S. government purchase card is an internationally accepted credit card issued by individual
contractors and available to personnel in all federal agencies under a single General Services
Administration (GSA) contract. The purpose of Purchase Card Programs is to minimize the paperwork needed to make, with proper authorization, purchases of up to $25,000. According to GSA, in 2000, the cards were used for more than 23 million transactions worth $12.3 billion. By avoiding the formal procurement process, GSA estimates the annual savings to be $1.2 billion.Although they provide efficiency and savings to the government, Purchase Card Programs are high-risk because they allow the same individual to order, pay for, and receive goods and services. This offers the potential for fraud and abusive and improper transactions if not carefully monitored.
[…]
A Practical Guide for Reviewing Government Purchase Card Programs
It’s a 23 year old guidebook for reviewing government credit card use. There’s no documentation to support the claimed $1.2 billion in annual savings from “by avoiding the formal procurement process.” In the private sector, it’s very easy to get fired for “avoiding the formal procurement process.” The purpose of a “formal procurement process” is to strictly adhere to budgets.
This CNBC article is from 2014:
Widespread Abuse of Government Charge Cards
Published Tue, May 6 2014
For years, the federal government has struggled to provide sufficient oversight over its government credit card program—and a string of new audits reveals that it is still an ongoing and costly problem.
The whole point of government credit cards is to streamline the federal procurement process—but without proper supervision over what is being purchased—millions of dollars are misused and abused by federal employees.
[…]
The widespread abuse even prompted Congress to pass legislation in 2012 that required federal agencies to review their purchase card programs. New guidelines issued by the Office of Management and Budget even warn that workers caught improperly charging their cards could face dismissal.
Regardless, the problem persists and auditors still say some agencies continue failing to conduct reviews, leaving more money vulnerable to waste and abuse.
[…]
Once again, the competence of government IT systems as well as the managers in charge of spending taxpayer dollars are in question.
—By Brianna Ehley of The Fiscal Times
From 2015…
Former DEA Employee Pleads Guilty to Credit Card Fraud Scheme
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) employee pleaded guilty today to defrauding the government out of more than $113,000 using fraudulently issued government credit cards, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland and Special Agent in Charge Michael P. Tompkins of the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General in Washington, D.C.
Keenya Meshell Banks, 42, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow of the District of Maryland to one count of wire fraud. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 29, 2015.
According to her plea agreement, Banks was employed by the DEA as a Program Manager, and was responsible for the approval and issuance of government credit cards to DEA employees. While serving in that role, Banks admitted that she submitted dozens of fake credit card applications to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for fictitious DEA employees, using names and identifying information of individuals who did not work at the DEA. In at least one instance, however, Banks submitted the identifying information of an actual DEA employee. Through this scheme, Banks obtained at least 32 fraudulent credit cards, which she then used to withdraw more than $113,000 from ATMs in Maryland and Northern Virginia. As part of her plea agreement, Banks agreed to forfeit the proceeds she received as a result of the scheme and to pay full restitution.
The case is being investigated by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and Justin Weitz of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Windom of the District of Maryland.
Updated February 5, 2025
From 2025…
Troops used government cards to pay for casinos, online gaming and Super Bowl parties
One Air Force cardholder took out over $10,000 in cash against their government travel card on 23 trips to a casino. Still, compliance is better than a decade ago.
Posted on Jan 27, 2025
Military service members charged at least $500,000 on gambling, drinking, nightclubs and online games to their government travel charge cards in 2023 without triggering alarms among finance officials, an inspector general report found.
The report, “Audit of the DoD Government Travel Charge Card Program: The Visa IntelliLink Compliance Management System” reviewed the effectiveness of the system, known as VICM. The investigation found holes in the watchdog program, which allowed fraud and unauthorized spending to slip past officials. Many were minor, like paying for online gaming apps or drinks on holidays or during the Super Bowl, while others kept up fraudulent charges for months.
[…]
While government credit card abuse and fraud are a problem, the use of the credit cards to avoid “the formal procurement process” is probably much worse.
This isn’t a coincidence:
The spending limits reflect Musk’s belief in zero-based budgeting. After he purchased Twitter, he slashed the budget to zero and forced employees to justify every expense.
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DOGE, thus far, looks like a vigorous audit. Making employees justify their expenses is but one element.
If one was, in fact, money laundering, they would be quite upset.
It sucks for everyone subject to it, especially the most honest. I’m for it, but it definitely sucks, and also creates the unintended consequence of creating the role Federal Spending Auditor.
Every Government agency with which I dealt throughout my career had internal auditors looking over every expenditure.
‘If one was, in fact, money laundering, they would be quite upset.”
You have seen the response of many Democrats, haven’t you 😉
I somehow think Stacey Abrams is not happy.
“I used my 2 billion taxpayer dollars to buy energy-saving appliances for 74 people. This was clearly necessary — not waste, fraud, or abuse — so I am suing to get the rest of my money unfrozen.”
My former employer (I am retired) in recent years issued employees credit cards to their travel (and other} expenses. Each charge had to be backed up with electronic receipts or photocopies and was approved by the employee’s supervisor.
But I have seen in government agencies (like the city where I live) where some of the supervisors spend thousands of dollars on their cards for lavish trips and office redecoration.
Oh my.
When working I had a company credit card which simply meant that the company paid the annual fee ($50). But I had to pay the bill each month and submit the documentation for reimbursement. There were times when I had to pay out of pocket to avoid interest charges due to delays in getting reimbursed. I was a pain, but relatively fraud resistant.
However, I do recall an employee responsible for ordering office/cleaning supplies using an outfit that gave buyers “free gifts” based of value of orders. I was a total scam with inflated prices and off the books deliveries of stuff like TVs and watches delivered to the employee’s home. It was only discovered when a supervisor decided to check on competitive prices from other suppliers and realized how inflated the prices were. One wonders how many scams our being perpetrated in government purchasing.
I was at an event recently with 3 hard core lefty’s and one right. One leftie made a Doge joke and the other 2 glared like they were ready to throw down. Me and the other guy gave a slight chuckle.
Doge is right over the target.
It used to just be metaphorical that you were receiving flak when right over the target.
Now it is literal. People are shooting into and firebombing Tesla dealerships.
If the crazies are going to start playing domestic terrorism “games”, they should be prepared to win domestic terrorism “prizes”, i.e. long jail sentences.
Which “wing” is supposed to do that?
Only the crazies of course.
Either/both. Domestic terrorism does not have a club membership requirement.
Lead poisoning.
As someone who likes to point out the obvious, this bears repeating.
The only people who are opposed to eliminating waste, fraud and abuse (corruption) in government are those that are already corrupted.
You reckon?
Mental health advisory board member’s bizarre pronoun stuns meeting
The committee, whose budget during the 2023-2025 biennium stood at an astounding $35.8 billion, said appointing members to the council requires a joint effort between existing members on the council.
Nothing to see here DOGE folks move along
So much of the “demonizing” of a variety of areas and issues will be less and less tolerated, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.
The news says they cancelled over 200,000 government credit cards.
YAY!!!
In the early 1970’s when I showed up for my summer job—mineral exploration in the Western US—I was given a check that I had to take to the bank (where the company banked) and convert it to travelers checks. That was my expense money and I was required to submit an expense account with receipts every month. We drove pick-up trucks (8 to 10 mpg)all over and had a lot of gas receipts. The next summer we were still on travelers checks for expenses except for gas—we were issued a gas company credit card to be used only for gas. Never crossed our mind to abuse the privilege.
In the early 1980’s, company cars were the norm. Almost always Chevy Impalas or Ford LTD’s… perfect vehicles to drive out to drilling rigs and seismic crews /SARC. Although, I rode with seismic crew party chiefs, in Chevy Impalas, on trails I wouldn’t dive my Jeep Rubicon on… 😎
We were issued fleet gas cards, that could also be used for routine maintenance. We had to submit monthly mileage reports and receipts. These perks went away when they became taxable income and huge liabilities for oil companies. These days, we’re even discouraged from driving rental cars on company business due to liability issues… Thanks Uber!
“…on trails I wouldn’t dive my Jeep Rubicon on…”
Ah yes, the government rig, aka the crummy. Off road was no exaggeration. And the interior was beat up worse than the exterior. It’s amazing what people will do to a car they don’t have to pay for.
I don’t recall that you could use gas cards for anything other than gas. Back then gas stations weren’t supermarkets with gas pumps. They just sold gas and did car repairs.
And routine maintenance… Something very few gas stations can still do.
Our service and delivery truck drivers had credit cards. When used to buy anything but gasoline, oil, and service, the driver was often fired “with cause” after a “questions asked” meeting. Abuse was very low, but does takes supervisor a few minutes to check the bill and ask questions about occasional charges that weren’t pre-cleared. And it saved our procurement people from issuing many purchase orders, cheques issued from accounting, COD emergencies for flat tires, which all cost about the same as a half a tank of gasoline to process through the system, not to mentioned time lost while drivers stand around waiting for paperwork and phone calls from head office.
We have weekly emails to company employees to only put fuel on company credit cards anything brought from the fuel station store goes on your card. The problem is on credit card report it does not identify what was purchased just a total.
With the price of gas these days, no one will notice the unidentified latte tacked on there. Just made for fraud.
gas is 100% deductible but food is either 50% or 0%, depending on the circumstances. (In the US)
Story tip – Tens of Thousands of Acres of Amazon Forest Cut Down, and You’ll Never Guess Why – PJ Media
excerpt – Brazil is building a brand new, four-lane, eight-mile-long highway that will make travel to the small city of Belem easier. Called “Avenida Liberdade” by the state government, it’s being touted as a “sustainable mobility project, incorporating wildlife crossings, solar lighting, and bike lanes,” according to Carbon Pulse.
There’s a post on this topic next up on the schedule.
So the credit card program was INTENDED to avoid formal procurement processes. That guarantees fraud and abuse, plus busted budgets.
Federal science hasn’t stopped—it’s just being held accountable. So of course federal scientists are whining to Wired.
DOGE on.
This simply boggled my mind…
Unfathomable.
Yeah. Just put ship and radar repairs on the old credit card.
I wonder how far $25,000 goes when one is repairing ships.
It’s not just the amount of money, it’s the circumvention of procurement procedures. If an oil company operated that way, we’d be out of business very quickly.
Your employees would fast drain as much as they could 🙂
Like having a hydraulic hose replaced? The Purchase Order (PO) might cost $100, and the hose $50. And the vendor might balk at the PO. A box of RTV or specialty grease. Maybe its replace the winch cable for the small equipment winch. Maybe a $20 wrench was lost to the deep. You’re saying create a PO which costs over $100 to process, takes an hour from your employee’s time (another $200), NOW the $20 wrench costs $320.
The Purchase Order (PO) might cost $100
Why?
And the vendor might balk at the PO.
Why? I have yet to encounter a vendor who has a problem with a PO
This sounds like the standard procedure for almost every place I’ve worked. If I need a new mouse, I request one from IT (who follows their internal process which probably involved POs). If I don’t want to do that I can buy my own – with my own money. I can submit for reimbursement, which may or may not be approved. But I don’t get to just put it on the company credit card.
It’s about accountability.
A PO has to be touched by many hands, hands that sit at desks that cost a lot of money.
Something like NOAA is likely to be doing krazy stuff like servicing and upgrading remote equipment. That can run into renting ATVs or snow machines from small businesses that may not be set up to deal with POs.
Crews on research vessels may come into port and need to replace tools, ratchet straps, tag lines, whatever.
Your argument is completely ridiculous. POs can be and are written for large numbers of small purchases. The company gets a good price from the supplier and there is an accounting trail for the purchase and delivery of goods. You can’t use the PO number at the casino.
Not being able to do ship repairs is unfathomable?
ISWYDT.
Avoiding formal procurement processes for large expenditures is what’s unfathomable.
Sort of allows things to become a money sink… they are out of their depth.
I see what you did, there.
Not everybody missed the wordplay
Never knew that NOAA scientists were that multiskilled … “when you’ve finished with the nuclear mass spectrometer, Mike, just nip down to the engine room and fix the #2 diesel generator. Take the credit card with you just in case you need to order replacement parts!”
Along with some beers and pizza from the gas store to tide you over and the boss will think it’s fuel.
Sorry to be pedantic, but you have mixed up two different forms of analytical technique: mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic spectrometry.
Yeah true what the US government couldn’t get an account with the supplier?
Point well made.
If you need to replace a computer mouse or monitor do you go with Dell, or Amazon? Dell will sell you a mouse for about $100, and it costs the government another hundred to process the purchase order. Amazon delivers for about $14.
I put in a request to IT. I don’t order one from Amazon or Dell or hop on down to Best Buy.
IT has a budget for those sorts of things. If they don’t already have what I need on hand, they order it from approved vendors.
Credit cards are faster, of course.
Submitting a requisition and getting a purchase order requires how many signatures?
Of course that does not stop waste and abuse, but at least it creates the opportunity for review.
Not only the time, but the cost. Purchase Orders cost well over $100.
It boggles your mind because you have no experience in the scientific realm.
When I was testing clocks for USB (10 GHz) we needed to buy software licenses from Key Sight (nee Agilent, nee Hewlett Packard). We needed to rebuy these licenses every year. Since we had a fleet of these scopes—all purchased at different times—the license timing was random. It was much easier to pay online with the credit card, and we could get back to testing today; going through the Purchase Order (PO) process may take a week. A PO costs several hundred dollars to process; whereas a credit card justification is just through your boss. There’s a million little bits-n-bobs that need to be purchased, Giga Hertz coax, specialty tools or parts that would cost hundreds of thousands per year to keep in stock, but can be had online for a reasonable cost, in a reasonable amount of time.
If your computer mouse poops-out, you just go online and order another one, delivered in two days, paid with a credit card. Its the same with government; for this they need credit cards. A PO would cost over $100 to process, for a $15 computer mouse.
It boggles my mind because I’ve been working in the private sector scientific realm for over 40 years. If I need IT support, I send an email or call IT. They have a budget for those sorts of things and if they don’t have what I need on hand, they order it from their approved vendors.
If my computer mouse goes out, it’s probably because the AA battery is dead. We have lots of those handy.
You sound like you’ve never had a job where cost mattered, just government jobs where the taxpayer pays for waste and fraud. Smart buyers have POs for almost everything, even if they get small deliveries every day. For unforeseen needs, there is always petty cash.
For unforeseen needs, there is always petty cash.
Which, in most cases, is also carefully monitored and requires receipts and justification – i.e. accountability.
You have to realize a purchase order costs several hundred dollars to process. You might need some $5 tool you can buy on Amazon, and a credit card is the most efficient method. I once needed a 4mm Allen nut driver. I just went on Sears website and ordered ten of them—for the entire shop—it cost under $30 delivered.
If you don’t have a PO with a tool supplier than your organization is stupid and inefficient. If it is a government organization then DOGE will have a field day.
Knowing something about how the federal procurement system works (or doesn’t as the case may be), I can appreciate the desire to circumvent it. However, the answer to the problem is to fix the inefficient and broken procurement system, not to give people credit cards with little oversight to bypass the system.
Indeed! A person with a government credit card is a pig with its snout in the trough, even if they weren’t before they had the card. Taxpayers beware!
Yes. And they haven’t and apparently cannot.
FAA ATC system is over 30 years old, and three separate upgrade attempts costing billions have failed.
I use TurboTax, easy in line filing for over a decade. Yet IRS still doesn’t have a general on line filing system. Heck hire Intuit and it’s done by next year. DOGE out the entire IRS IT department.
The problems are apparently much below that as well–like down at the contract writing level. If you can’t get the government to write the necessary contract for the necessary approved work to be done, it doesn’t get done. it is not much consolation when the consequence is sending out a ship or submarine without really necessary repairs having been made to the life support system. It seems that 40% of the US Navy fleet is not fit for duty.
Send an email listing 5 things you accomplished last week.
Why? I don’t work for the federal government.
It was not intended to be addresses to you personally. The point being the employees were asked and if they were doing contract work that would be on their list of 5.
Issuing credit to speed up procurement sounds like a good idea on the surface.
Dig (DOGE?) a bit deeper and it becomes a quick way to steal a buck from the taxpayers.
DOGE the credit card receipts!
Who bought what and for what?
The Purchase Card system where I worked under the DoD was well regulated.
With any system there will always be abuse. People will always find a way to steal. But many times these are caught and punished.
Time is money. My salary was almost always paid out of a project. I did my best to protect the project funding and prevent theft.
I was working a project and needed a few hundred dollars of connectors.
I filled out the purchase request and got it approved.
I hand carried it to what was then called the buyer.
It was put on the bottom of the stack (first in first out system) and I was told it might take a day, possibly 2.
I visited the buyer daily for a week. Each time I was told a day or 2. The stack was not all that thick.
After a week, I went to the supervisor. A couple days later I went to the manager. A couple days later I went to the VP and explained that this was costing time and schedule and we would not be able to deliver on time without the parts.
The next morning when I visited the buyer I was informed the purchase order had been sent.
Got the connectors, finished the program, and delivered on time.
I can understand the use of credit cards. Here we have a maximum. We can order parts directly with no questions asked, but only parts and related materials and with a reasonable low cap.
Unless you have a large number of potential suppliers with very different prices, POs for parts and services from a subset of suppliers makes sense. The large companies I worked for all had POs based on negotiations on price and delivery time which could be used to procure needed supplies.
“I’ve worked in … industry since 1981, … never had a … general purpose credit card. … for the vast majority of my career, I had to pay for my own travel expenses and then submit an expense report for reimbursement.”
Yup. I’ve never been that high in the chain but I’ve travelled all over earth in the 1990’s.
This is another difference between private industry and public spending that mid/high public employees are learning. Not as big a disconnect as retirement plans, but a big disconnect still.
The story has always been private industry = income and public employment = benefits. Public employment has tried to “make it fair” by evening out income without looking at benefits. My generation of retirement are on track to see what that does to USA social security.
When I was doing research, only the boss had a “limited” credit card, linked to his expenses account… and he had to justify every cent that he put on it.
Yes, handy for business lunches, accommodation etc, and we once had to purchase a new laptop will out of state…
… but all had to be accounted for when we got back..
… anything not deemed as “business” had to be paid back within a month.
My, my, my, who could have predicted that?
I traveled a lot on business for my company. I was required to justify every dollar spent.
But these are Federal employees using taxpayer money..
It appears that, until Trump and DOGE, NONE of it needed to be accounted for. !!
Wonder if anyone got there house extensions and patios done you could just clock that up at the local hardware store. Timber, electronic cable etc sure a good story could be made.
so what you’re saying is “you’ve got 3.8 years to do your kitchen remodel with a gas stove” and “kill all lobsters?”
Story Tip..
DOD also drop climate lunacy.
Pentagon Dumps Climate Crusade ‘Crap’, Shifts Focus To Warfighting – Climate Change Dispatch
Who let the DOGE out? TRUMP – TRUMP – TRUMP – TRUMP, TRUMP!
I’m steeling this! 🙂
Steel? Beware the Trump tariffs on aluminum and steel.
She said it was an important area to keep researching, with rubble areas increasing due to climate change.
Scientists observe crabs eating juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish
There’s always more credit card required whatever the news with the climate changers.
People can easily “meet online” with today’s communication possibilities, which are also extensively used to save money. A lot of administrative trips are no longer necessary or justifiable.
I try to use MS Teams as often as I can, even if the meeting is in a conference room just down the hall… This way, I can keep working through the meeting… 🙂
Another geo here. You are right. In the company(s) I worked for we recognized that meetings were the place you went to get no work done.
It’s every citizen’s fundamental right to put their hand out for whatever pork is going around but that still doesn’t mean you think it’s a sensible idea-
How the government’s lofty net zero EV target is helping make us broke
Last corporate employer I had issued credit cards to employees, but expense reports had to be submitted and approved before the bill was due. Travel arrangements (airfare, hotel) had to be made through the company portal and it would only allow the lowest cost flights and stays at approved hotels. There was also a per diem limit on meals. Any charges other than permitted expenses were your personal responsibility. Travel expenses had to be charged to an approved project.
P-cards do make sense for relatively small expenses to minor vendors where processing a PO was unnecessary overhead. For example we charged our ARIN registration fees to a P-card and submitted an expense report.
Any system can be abused, but with controls common in the private sector flagrant abuses are rare.
In the 1970’s I flew in P-3’s hunting Russian subs. We often had a special red bag with us in case we needed to land somewhere other than home. The bag contained a credit card to use for fuel for the plane, lodging and food if necessary. Credit cards aren’t new but the proliferation is.
I disagree with your premise.
Back when I was nah-but a lad, in high school, I had an internship at the local Army Depot as a bicycle messenger. Back in the Hollerith card days, computer work for the government required bicycle messengers … ah that’s government efficiency for ya.
My very first day, this lady Connie—whose desk sat next to the messenger crew desk—had a broken 8″ off-brand Crescent™ wrench. Being motor-head adjacent, I knew an off-brand Crescent™ wrench could be found on the local market for about $3. Sears had actual Crescent wrenches for $9, and would replace it if broken. And for $20 Snap-On would deliver their name brand adjustable wrench to you, come back, apologize, and replace it if you broke it.
I explained my brilliant knowledge to Connie, who replied: “Young man, this is the US government. We will do no such thing however efficient it may be. We will pay over $75 to replace this wrench, and you’ll be off in college—nine months later—before the replacement arrives.” Which is what happened.
When you work in scientific endeavors, you need a credit card for the odd bit-n-bobs to get your equipment running, keep it running, and provide for the odd specialty tools and expendables mostly unforeseen. Many years after the Army Depot gig, I’m a tech for INTC working in a shop. Where we have a need for a bunch of 4mm hex nut drivers. With my credit card, I can just go to Sears web page and buy ten of them for $2.80 each. They get delivered for less than the cost of the purchase order. Likewise KeySight (nee Agilent, nee HP) oscilloscopes need licensing if you want to run at 10GHz—USB speeds—this is license is easily paid for with a credit card.
People doing actual work have to rent cars, rent equipment, do all manner of krazy unforeseen stuff, and a credit card is the most efficient method.
Granted there were issues, more government credit cards than employees …
The problem is not when it is done correctly. The problem is the excessive number of times (and dollars) it is done incorrectly.
A lot of people think that if the speed (80 in a 65 zone) and do not get caught, they have not broken the law.