GOP Lawmakers Want Investigation On Whether Government Workers Buy Marijuana With Federal Credit Cards

Republicans in the House and Senate are asking for an investigation to identify any potential cases where government employees have used their federal charge cards at “high-risk merchants,” including businesses that sell marijuana.

Following an audit by the Department of Defense’s (DOD) inspector general that found about 11,000 allegedly suspect purchases at other such businesses—like casinos and bars—Senate DOGE Caucus Chair Joni Ernst (R-IA) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced on Monday that they are jointly pushing for a government-wide investigation that will look at the “frequency of agencies’ high-risk merchant category code (MCC) transactions”—including the code covering “Cannabis and Marijuana Products.”

The GOP lawmakers want the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to carry out the inquiry. And although no allegations were raised in the DOD audit about government officials spending money on marijuana, that’s one of three dozen merchant categories they said are considered “high-risk,” alongside other enterprises that range from babysitting to massage parlors to fortune telling.

“For decades, [GAO] has uncovered persistent waste, fraud, and abuse in federal charge card programs. Despite repeated warnings, recent reports suggest many of these problems persist,” Ernst and Comer wrote in a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro on Friday.

💸😡 The DOD IG found nearly 8,000 HIGH-RISK transactions on government-issued credit cards. We are calling on GAO to provide a full audit of high-risk transactions, including:

• Adult entertainment • Online dating • Gambling • Weed • Pyramid schemes • Massage parlors •…

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 19, 2025

“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 to federal charge card programs,” they said. “To better understand the scope of this issue and to inform potential reforms, we request the GAO conduct a comprehensive review of the issuance and management of government purchase, travel, fleet, and integrated charge cards and accounts across federal agencies subject to the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990.”

The lawmakers also cited a separate audit conducted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that indicated the federal government maintains approximately 4.6 million active charge cards and accounts—nearly double the number of federal employees.

Credit Card Update!

The program to audit unused/unneeded credit cards has been expanded to 30 agencies. After 7 weeks, ~470k cards have been de-activated.

As a reminder, at the start of the audit, there were ~4.6M active cards/accounts, so still more work to do. pic.twitter.com/G50NfsKeTm

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) April 16, 2025

Previously, Ernst separately included funding for marijuana research in her “2025 DOGE Madness Tournament of Waste,” referencing the administration’s cancellation of federal grant funding for a study examining cannabis use risks among LGBTQ+ individuals, non-binary people and heterosexual women.

Earlier this month, DOGE also promoted the cancellation of another cannabis-related federal grant for a program that’s long tracked cannabis potency levels in seized illicit products.

“Marijuana” is also one of nearly two dozen “controversial or high-profile topics” that staff and researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are now required to clear with higher-ups before writing about, according to a leaked memo from within the federal agency.

DOGE head Elon Musk, meanwhile, said in February that he thinks it’s a “great idea” to mandate drug testing of federal employees as he pushes to make massive cuts to government agencies and spending.

In response, a Democratic congresswoman filed a bill that would require Musk and other DOGE workers to submit to drug testing to maintain their “special government employee” status.

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.