The Pentagon and the Navy paused civilian travel and limited use of government travel and purchasing cards to adhere to a recent White House executive order, USNI News has learned.
As of Thursday night, Department of the Navy civilians cannot use their government purchase cards and cannot travel unless they receive an exemption to do so, according to a message Naval Sea Systems Command executive director Chris Miller sent to employees.
“In the interim, DOD civilian employees must cancel all non-exempt future travel (i.e. travel that has not yet started),” Miller wrote in a March 6 email reviewed by USNI News.
“Anyone on travel must return as soon as feasible. Military personnel are NOT impacted by the attached memo, although internally to NAVSEA, we will be publishing business rules to ensure we are aligned with the intent of the Executive order.”
In the email, Miller said NAVSEA “didn’t have time to adjust plans” and urged employees to “use common sense and be conservative” in the coming days while the agency waits for additional directions.
Miller laid out three exceptions for using the government travel cards, including “direct support for military operations … a permanent change of station (PCS), or … return from travel,” according to the email.
Civilian employees use government travel cards to pay for flights and lodging, while the purchase cards are used to buy supplies not available through the General Services Administration or Navy suppliers, USNI News understands. Under the NAVSEA guidance, civilians cannot use their government purchase cards for 30 days starting March 6.
“This move will have wide-ranging impacts, and SEA 02 is working to identify a select number of civilians that require a card for disaster relief, or any actions deemed critical to the Component’s mission,” the email reads. SEA 02 refers to the contracts directorate. “[Government Purchase Card] cardholders should be working with SEA 02 on any critical issues.”
The email’s guidance complies with a Feb. 26 executive order that President Donald Trump signed on government spending. The order called for a 30-day freeze to civilians’ government credit cards and sought to limit “non-essential travel.”
Each department should work with the Department of Government Efficiency, a new agency guided by billionaire Elon Musk, to set up a system that tracks permission for non-essential travel paid for by the government, according to the text of the order.
“Once an agency’s system is in place, the Agency Head shall prohibit agency employees from engaging in federally funded travel for conferences or other non-essential purposes unless the travel-approving official has submitted a brief, written justification for the federally funded travel within such system,” reads the executive order.
“Each DOGE Team Lead shall, to the extent consistent with law, provide the Administrator with a monthly informational report listing each agency’s justifications for non-essential travel. Such justifications shall be posted publicly unless prohibited by law or unless the Agency Head grants an exemption from this requirement.”
The order carves out exceptions for government credit cards used “for disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits or operations or other critical services as determined by the Agency Head,” according to the EO language.
In a memo dated March 5, Darin Selnick, who is performing the duties of the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, issued implementation guidance to the Defense Department about the executive order.
“DoD civilian employees must cancel all future non-exempted official travel reservations, and those currently on non-exempted travel must return to their respective permanent duty stations as soon as feasible,” reads the DoD memo addressed to top Pentagon leaders.
“Currently exempted DoD civilian employee travel only includes travel in direct support of military operations or a permanent change of station,” the memo continues.
Selnick wrote that the Pentagon would restrict spending on civilians’ government travel charge cards to $1.
