DOGE wants to get rid of the penny, some say ‘hands off, it’s a slippery slope’

In a move that could ultimately save U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars, the new Department of Government Efficiency seems to be eying eliminating the penny.

As the new group headed by Elon Musk has been tasked with cutting excess federal spending, a post on X this week drew attention to the cost-value ratio of producing the U.S. coin that features a profile of President Abraham Lincoln.

“The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost U.S. taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023,” the DOGE post read. “The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced.”

“During the past year, the penny’s costs have only continued to rise, with the U.S. Mint’s 2024 annual report finding that one cent now costs about 3.7 cents to manufacture and distribute,” CBS News reported.

“Pennies are mostly made of zinc, with a copper overlay to give them their distinctive color. While zinc’s price fluctuates from year to year, its cost per metric ton is now double what it was in 2016, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,” the outlet added.

The U.S. Mint report noted that the Federal Reserve “consistently orders more pennies than any other denomination” while also noting that it costs 14 cents to make and distribute every nickel.

Some have noted that dropping the penny could cost consumers more as prices would likely be rounded up to a 5-cent interval.

“For a single item or small-value purchase, rounding up or down could represent a significant price change,” the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond noted back in 2020. “On the other hand, there may be additional, hard-to-quantify costs to using pennies that would argue in favor of elimination. Counting pennies to make change takes time, and as the old business adage goes, time is money.”

While eliminating the penny would require an act of Congress, X users had mixed reactions to the DOGE post.

Meanwhile, President Trump has also been cutting costs as he ended remote work for federal employees.

“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” reads the order Trump signed.

The president also signed an order to freeze the hiring of civilian employees, though military personnel is excluded from the order as are federal positions associated with immigration enforcement, national security, and public safety.

“As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law.” the order reads.

Frieda Powers

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