WASHINGTON (AP) — With the stroke of his pen, President Barack Obama has sacked souvenirs federal agencies buy with taxpayer money to promote their work.

The ban he signed Wednesday is part of a broader executive order to cut some $4 billion of dollars in waste and make government more efficient. Some office equipment will simply be scarcer, and fewer cell phones and laptops will be issued.

Obama has been using his executive powers on modest proposals — Wednesday’s order targets trinkets like coffee cups, T-shirts and pens — to promote job creation, help homeowners or, in this case, redirect spending.

With such orders, signed in Oval Office ceremonies, Obama is trying to demonstrate that he is engaged in measures large and small and to distinguish himself from what he argues is a pretty unproductive Congress. Lawmakers are in the middle of a more gargantuan task — cutting deficits by at least $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.