On February 26, President Trump signed an executive order regarding the transparency and accountability of federal spending, giving agency heads the following directives:  

• Federal contracts payments: The executive order establishes a new record keeping system of approved federal contract and grant payments. Federal employees now must provide written justification for each federal contract or grant payment to be approved, which will be publish publicly to the maximum extent permitted by law. The executive order also directs agency heads, in consultation with DOGE, to review current federal contracts and determine if they need to be modified or terminated. Agency heads are also directed to review current federal contract process guidance and, in consultation with DOGE, issue new guidance for signing on new contracts or modify existing contracts to “promote government efficiency”.  
   

• Travel justifications: The executive order directs agency heads, with assistance from DOGE, to create a system that houses approval records for federally funded travel for conferences and other non-essential purposes. Once this system is established, federal employees must submit justification for federally funded travel within said system. These justifications will then be publicly available unless prohibited by law or the agency head exempts the disclosure.  
   

• Credit card freezes: The executive order directs that all credit cards held by agency employees shall be treated as frozen 30 days from the date the order is published.  Exceptions include credit cards held by federal employees utilized for disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits, operations or other critical services as determined by agency heads. Agency heads can create further exceptions with the consultation of DOGE.  
   

• Real property reviews: The executive order directs agency heads to submit updates to the Federal Real Property Profile Management System to reflect the accurate inventory of agency properties within 7 days. Within 30 days, agency heads are directed to identify termination rights of leases for government-owned properties and, with the consultation of DOGE, determine if they should exercise those rights. Within 60 days, the Administrator of General Services shall submit a plan to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on properties that agencies have determined are no longer needed.  

The executive order does not apply to the military, law enforcement and immigration officers, or classified information systems employees. Agency heads may also grant exemptions, but these exemptions must be in consultation with DOGE and the Director of OMB.  

Impact: The executive order directly inserts the Department of Government Efficiency in the approval and disbursement of federal contract, grant, and loans payments. The order also sets in motion plans to reduce the number of federal properties, despite the Trump administration ordering federal employees to return to in-person work.