The Trump administration could be sending out $5,000 checks to millions of people next summer if Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have their way.
Musk posted on X that he “will check with the president” on what proponents call a DOGE Dividend, which would be a 20% refund of money that the quasi-government agency saves taxpayers through spending cuts.
Azoria Partners CEO James Fishback floated the proposal on Tuesday, issuing a four-page letter with details that could include stimulus-style checks sent to nearly 80 million households.
“President Trump and Elon Musk should announce a ‘DOGE Dividend’—a tax refund check sent to every taxpayer, funded exclusively with a portion of the total savings delivered by DOGE,” he wrote.
Fishback pitches the idea as a refund check rather than a stimulus since the money would only be a portion of spending cuts rooted out by Musk and DOGE. At least 1,127 government contracts have been canceled so far, DOGE claims, saving $55 billion to date.
There are a few catches, however.
One is that the checks would not be sent until July 2026, when DOGE is scheduled to finish its work. Another is that the checks would only go to households that paid federal income tax, which Fishback says will be an incentive for people who are not working to enter the labor force this year.
There are roughly 79 million households that fit the description, and each of them could receive a check of up to $5,000 check.
Another wrinkle in the idea is that it would depend on how much spending is actually cut. Musk touted cutting $2 trillion while campaigning with President Donald Trump last year, and the $5,000 figure would be contingent on reaching that astonishing figure. If DOGE cuts less, the checks would be smaller.
The plan would also likely need approval from Congress, though Republican lawmakers might be motivated to get behind sending out big checks a few months before the midterm elections. Trump has not weighed in on the matter.
Several rounds of stimulus checks went out under both Trump and President Joe Biden during the pandemic, a controversial move that got a lot of blame for the rampant inflation still plaguing the country.
Per Fishback, this plan would not be inflationary since it would depend on massive spending cuts, and taxpaying households are more likely to invest their money or pay down debt than immediately spend it.
Still, if the idea moves forward, it is sure to face pushback, as have most of Trump and Musk’s moves over the last month. Thousands of people have been laid off or fired throughout the federal government, and Democrats are staging protests almost daily outside various agencies or on the National Mall.
Trump famously put his name on two stimulus checks in 2020, though it wasn’t enough to see him win reelection that year. Biden did not put his name on checks that went out under his administration, a move he later regretted and described as stupid.
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In the early days of the pandemic, roughly 70 million people received $1,200 checks with “President Donald J. Trump” in the bottom-left corner, a factor some Democrats worried could weigh against them in last year’s election.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the White House seeking comment.
