Billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has a new target in its sights for trimming federal spending: the U.S. penny.
In Tuesday X post, Musk's DOGE wrote that the U.S. spends about 3 cents to mint each penny, which, of course, is only valued at 1 cent.
"The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost U.S. taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023," DOGE wrote.
Still, the cent's $179 million in costs represents mere metaphorical pennies when it comes to DOGE's mandate to cut federal spending.
President Donald Trump has said DOGE will provide recommendations to "slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies."
Federal officials have proposed suspending the penny in prior years, with former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew pushing the idea in 2015.
DOGE might want to set its sights beyond the lowly penny, as it's not the only coin that costs more to mint than it's worth. »
