DOGE Stimulus Check Coming? In the opening month of the second Trump presidency, much of the attention has been taken up by the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk’s effort to essentially take a sledgehammer to various agencies of the federal government.
Despite some confusion over whether or not Musk is the head of DOGE, the entrepreneur has been placing minions in various government agencies, and going on X each day to claim billions of dollars per day in savings.
Questions have been raised over whether DOGE even has the power to eliminate agencies and employees that have been appropriated by Congress, and those questions seem likely to be decided by the courts. But in the meantime, a controversial idea has been raised over what exactly to do with the money that has been “saved” by DOGE actions.
Meet the “DOGE Dividend” or DOGE Stimulus Check?
A proposal was floated earlier this week by James Fishback, the CEO of the investment firm Azoria and an adviser to the DOGE effort, to create a “DOGE Dividend” for taxpayers. Fishback announced the plan, naturally, in an X post.
Some could even consider it a new stimulus check that many Americans would love.
The proposal is that, after DOGE expires in July of 2026, a tax refund check will be sent to American households. If DOGE achieves $2 trillion in savings, 20 percent of that money would be sent to the “79 million U.S. households that will be net payers of federal income tax.” That will amount to about $5,000 per household.
Musk responded, “will check with the president.” Trump, in a speech Thursday at a Saudi-backed investor conference in Miami, stated that “there’s even a — under consideration, a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens and 20% goes to paying down debt.” Trump, after all, has been a fan in the past of sending out checks, especially if it gives him the chance to put his name on them.
Is This a “Stimulus Check”?
The government sending checks out to a large percentage of the American population sounds like a familiar idea: It looks a lot like the stimulus checks, which were sent out, at various times, by the Bush, Trump, and Biden Administrations.
The difference is that the stimulus checks in 2002, 2020 and 2021 were distributed in recessionary or near-recessionary times, to stimulate the economy. The problem right now is that inflation remains stubbornly high- and $5,000 checks to 79 million households would likely be inflationary. It’s also very likely to explode the deficit.
A New York magazine column by Ed Kilgore this week called the DOGE Dividend “ a really bad and unworkable idea.”
Not only are DOGE’s numbers about the amount of money they’ve saved somewhat questionable, but the scheme would also be highly regressive- by excluding households with “net federal income tax liability,” the checks would only go to the wealthier roughly half of American households.
So trillions of dollars would be cut, including from social programs for the poor, and directed into the pockets of the rich.
The New York Post Editorial Board, at the other end of the political spectrum, called for paying down the debt, instead of sending checks.
Stimulus Check? It Probably Won’t Happen
There are many reasons to think that the DOGE Dividend plan isn’t going to happen. For one thing, Congress is currently in the middle of sensitive budget negotiations that don’t account for trillions of dollars going out the door in the form of direct checks.
And secondly, Congressional Republicans are on the record as not on board with the idea.
“I mean, politically, that would be great for us, but if you think about our core principles, fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at CPAC on Thursday, adding that he would prefer to prioritize paying down the debt.
Then-former President of the United States, Donald Trump, spoke with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. By Gage Skidmore.
Republican senators are also somewhat unenthusiastic, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) this week calling direct checks “not the smartest way to spend savings.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said he’d be interested in the idea “once we balance the budget,” which is likely another way of declaring, “not anytime soon, if ever.”
So while the idea may be popular in some quarters, no one should expect the DOGE Dividend to arrive in their bank account anytime soon.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
