Elon Musk’s DOGE takes aim at the U.S. penny, points out that its cost more

Elon Musk's DOGE is taking aim at the U.S. penny, pointing out that it costs more to manufacture than it's worth. https://t.co/Pxvh7r2LBh

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 22, 2025

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. “The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced.”

In pointing out the penny’s costliness, DOGE is taking aim at an issue that has sparked debate for years, although the price of manufacturing the cent has only grown over the past several years. In 2016, for instance, the U.S. was spending about 1.5 cents to mint each penny, or less than half of its current manufacturing cost. 

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.” Musk has said the group will aim to trim $500 billion in annual federal spending. 

DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy, recently announced he is leaving the organization, posting on social media on Jan. 20 that he will be stepping back from the effort to run for Ohio governor.

On Monday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order officially creating DOGE, which will be housed within the executive branch and focus on upgrading the government’s IT systems to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”