Elon Musk says he “will check with the President” about an idea to issue refund checks from DOGE savings. Those checks could be as much as $5,000 per household if the department hits its $2 trillion savings goal. But there are some major hurdles that could scuttle the idea.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency task force claims to be slashing the federal budget, which would ease the federal deficit. But now Musk is exploring the idea of using some of that money to send rebate checks to citizens. In a post on Twitter/X Tuesday afternoon, Musk said he would escalate the idea of a “DOGE Dividend,” saying “will check with the President.” The post came in a reply to a suggestion by James Fishback, the CEO and cofounder of right-leaning investment firm Azoria. (The company last year launched an anti-woke ETF that excluded companies that prioritize DEI hiring.)
By Fishback’s calculations, if DOGE reaches its target of $2 trillion in savings (a number that includes most of the government’s discretionary spending and which Musk himself has backtracked from in the past month), a 20% cut of that distributed to Americans would work out to $5,000 per household. The checks, he proposes, would be sent after DOGE expires next July. DOGE, on its website, has claimed to create $55 billion in savings so far. Numerous media reports, however, have shown discrepancies in that figure, such as a New York Times story pointing out one claim of an $8 billion savings was only an $8 million one. Additionally, many of the claims made by DOGE include no documentation to back up their savings boasts.
While the prospect of a $5,000 check will likely excite many people, it’s unclear, even if DOGE demonstrably reaches its $2 trillion savings goal, whether it could issue those rebates without Congressional approval. While Congress has shown a proclivity to follow President Donald Trump’s wishes, some Republicans would prefer any savings be put toward paying down the national debt, while others want the money to pay for an extension of tax cuts set to expire. Also, it’s worth noting that Musk himself has been somewhat critical of government stimulus packages in the past and in 2021 told Time magazine, “I think the government is inherently not a good steward of capital.”
