Musk isn’t introducing a novel idea. For years, people have advocated eliminating the penny, as pennies are rarely spent as change. And since the Covid-19 pandemic, more consumers are shopping online or avoiding physical currency altogether .

Donald Trump is in office, and he has signed an executive order to create DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency — with Elon Musk leading the way. The purpose of DOGE is, supposedly, to cut away the excess spending in government, and there are a lot of programs and job positions that have reportedly already been added to the chopping block.