The House in approving its appropriations bill for the Defense Department (HR-2685) accepted an amendment aimed at further limiting allowable uses of government-issued travel charge cards in response to the latest in a long series of reports on their misuse.
The amendment bars the use of the cards by DoD civilian and military personnel for gambling or for “adult entertainment,” following an IG report that found more than $1 million in spending at casinos and adult entertainment establishments over 2013-2014.
In the wake of that report, proposals circulated to bar any use of the cards at casinos, for example, although the industry responded that such a broad ban would affect spending legitimate purposes such as meals and lodging at conventions held at or near hotels associated with casinos. The language of the amendment applies only to gambling at casinos, although the bar on use for adult entertainment would apply both there and at other places.
The Senate has not yet considered its counterpart bill, although a bill to tighten controls on charge cards in general has cleared the committee level.
