US Defense Department Freezes Nonessential Travel for Government Employees

The Department of Defense, in line with an executive order issued by President Trump, froze all nonessential travel for civilian governmental employees, ordering them to cancel travel that’s already been planned and disallowing the usage of travel credit cards on February 26. 

The freeze on nonessential travel is not new: it came on the heels of Trump’s February 26 executive order entitled, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Cost Efficiency Initiative.” 

The executive order banned nonessential travel through March 28, for a span of 30 days, and encouraged workers to cancel their upcoming travel plans. In addition, employees’ travel credit cards have been frozen, unless they get an exemption for their travel, according to sister publication Travel Weekly. 

Exemptions must come from the Defense Department and from the non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency, which Elon Musk runs. 

The Defense Travel Management Office, which oversees commercial travel within the Defense Department, defines nonessential travel as “travel that is not in direct support of military operations, not for a permanent change of station, and not otherwise deemed exempt as mission-critical by a DoD component head."

The freeze, according to The Beat, has at least somewhat impacted the number of government employees traveling. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told The Beat at an industry event that government travel was down by about half. 

This isn’t the first time the Trump Administration’s decisions are raising eyebrows in the travel community. A recent interview with WestJet vice chair Alex Cruz highlighted the beginnings of a travel backlash among Canadian and Mexican travelers.

The number of travelers from both countries visiting the U.S. are dipping this spring, in large part due to the trade war started by Trump. Even a 10 percent decrease in Canadian visitation this year would see 14,000 jobs lost and $2.1 billion lost in spending. 

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