Elon Musk’s $1 Spending Limit Is Paralyzing Federal Agencies

The impacts person deed the National Park Service arsenic well. One worker was poised to spell connected a travel to oversee roadworthy attraction astatine a nationalist monument erstwhile the alteration went into effect connected February 20. “Unless I privation to wage for it myself, I can’t go. I can’t wage for my hotel, my rental car, substance for the car. Now I can’t transportation retired the mission,” the worker says. “Today, alternatively of focusing connected different work, I’m focused connected 3 antithetic contingencies connected however to grip this. Do I go? Do I telephone my engineering squad and archer them to reschedule? And if so, when? The task is connected an indefinite hold.”

A memo written to unit astatine the National Park Service specified that “all question that is NOT related to nationalist security, nationalist safety, oregon migration enforcement should beryllium canceled if it begins connected Wednesday, February 26, done the extremity of March 2025.” A semipermanent determination connected the question policy, it said, volition travel “at a aboriginal date.” Some NPS staffers were capable to question successful February contempt not getting authoritative clearance. They person present been told nary question volition beryllium allowed successful March. To date, astir 75 trips person been canceled oregon rescheduled, according to a root acquainted with the situation.

The National Park Service did not respond to a petition for remark from WIRED.

Some authorities employees accidental they were fixed a informing anterior to the alteration being announced connected February 20. “We went retired and bought cases and cases of toilet insubstantial the nighttime before,” different existent worker astatine the National Park Service says. “There’s a wide acknowledgement that things are going to break.”

That worker works successful the Pacific West Region, which manages national onshore successful California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada, arsenic good arsenic parks successful Arizona, Montana, Guam, and American Samoa. While the GSA did let for the anticipation of exceptions to the clamp-down, the worker claims determination are lone 4 acquisition cards with spending limits supra $1 disposable for the full region.

Some of these parks wage for services similar net and wireless connected acquisition cards—leaving staffers wondering if their enactment devices could soon beryllium chopped off. “Before idiosyncratic tin hole a bath a enactment bid has to beryllium issued,” the existent worker explains. “That happens electronically. Like immoderate business, we trust connected email, Teams, and chat to get things done.”

The spending limits bespeak Musk’s content successful zero-based budgeting. After helium purchased Twitter, helium slashed the fund to zero and forced employees to warrant each expense. He besides froze people’s firm recognition cards.

“With the Twitter pausing of payments, astatine immoderate constituent we were successful a gathering astatine 1 americium connected a Saturday, and it was like, ‘Hey, let's crook the recognition cards disconnected to spot what bounces, and what happens,’" explained angel capitalist Jason Calacanis connected the All In podcast successful February. (Calacanis was portion of Musk’s modulation squad astatine Twitter.) “And of course, we started getting calls ... The radical who travel first, they're astir apt the ones who are successful connected the biggest grift.”

Employees spot it a antithetic way. “There are truthful galore controls successful spot to marque definite fraud doesn’t happen,” alleges the existent NPS staffer. “I honestly judge the lone fraud occurring is being committed by Musk, [Russell] Vought, and [Donald] Trump.”

Kate Knibbs and Aarian Marshall contributed to this reporting.