Donald Trump has directed the Treasury to stop the production of new pennies as part of his latest effort to reduce government spending. Shortly after attending the first half of the Super Bowl, the president took to Truth Social to share the announcement. "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents," he wrote.
"This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time." The Denver and Philadelphia mints produce new US pennies for circulation.
Trump's Latest Cost-Cutting Measure
A 2024 report from the U.S. Mint revealed that manufacturing a single penny costs 3.69 cents, resulting in a $179 million loss for the Treasury in 2023. Similarly, producing a nickel cost around 13.78 cents last year, with rising raw material prices contributing to the increased expense.
The U.S. Mint said that 2024 marks the 19th consecutive year in which production costs for pennies have exceeded their face value. Trump's announcement is the latest initiative aimed at reducing federal expenditures.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, has already introduced a series of cost-cutting measures, including the complete elimination of funding for USAID, the nation's foreign aid agency.
DOGE also claims to have saved $1 billion by cutting funding for DEI programs, following Trump's executive order that revoked federal support for such initiatives.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published in November, Musk and his then-co-partner Vivek Ramaswamy outlined ambitious plans to slash around $500 billion in government spending—roughly seven percent of the total federal budget.
However, the agency's methods have faced scrutiny and are now the subject of multiple lawsuits after reports surfaced that DOGE had gained access to federal disbursement systems.
DOGE in Action
A judge in New York has temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing the U.S. Treasury's payment system. On Saturday, District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York issued a restraining order against the U.S. Treasury Department and Trump, following a request from 19 states, including New York.
The emergency order mandates an immediate halt of giving access to Treasury information by anyone not employed by the department.
This includes all political appointees, special government employees, and people detailed from other agencies, preventing them from accessing the Treasury's payment records, systems, or any other data held by the department.
The order also requires any Treasury-related information obtained by people outside the department since Inauguration Day on January 20 to be "immediately" destroyed, which impacts DOGE staff working with Musk.
In response, Trump said he would direct the head of DOGE to focus on identifying potential cuts within the Department of Education next. "I ran on this, and the people want me to find this," Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier in a pre-taped interview before the Super Bowl.
He made history as the first sitting president to attend the event, where the Philadelphia Eagles secured a 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
