Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Topics: Politics, US News, Money, Donald Trump, Elon Musk
Ella Scott
Topics: Politics, US News, Money, Donald Trump, Elon Musk
President Donald Trump has expressed interest in distributing a ‘DOGE dividend’ which could provide US residents with a hefty cheque through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
Tesla CEO Musk, 53, who informally heads up DOGE, has vowed to cut costs at federal agencies and drastically reduce the USA’s national debt of $36.22 trillion.
So far, the office claims its cuts have saved the American public $55 billion in federal funds, as per ABC, and that it has already terminated more than 1,000 federal contracts.
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Now, taxpaying US citizens could benefit from DOGE’s ruthlessness and potentially claim thousands of dollars back, thanks to an idea floated by Trump, 78.
On Wednesday (19 February), the Republican leader outlined how 20 percent of Musk’s savings could be returned to the taxpayer.
“There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20 percent of the DOGE savings to American citizens and 20 percent goes to paying down debt,” he said during a speech at the FII Priority Summit in Miami.
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“The numbers are incredible, Elon, so many billions - hundreds of billions - and we’re thinking about giving 20 percent back to the American citizens.”
Below, we’ve outlined everything you need to know about DOGE dividends. This includes how much money you could be in for, after one social media user wrote they would periodically start 'checking the mail' for a cheque.
According to Investopedia, the DOGE dividends scheme has actually been circulating online for some time.
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However, James Fishback, the founder of ‘free-thinking investment firm’ Azoria caught the attention of Musk after outlining his version on social media.
“President Trump and @ElonMusk 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 to his 52,500 followers.
On Tuesday (18 February), Musk replied: “Will check with the President.”
Trump has yet to share specific details about how much taxpayers would receive if they were granted DOGE dividends, but it’s thought that the more cuts are made, the more money Americans will receive.
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According to Fishback, dedicating just 20 percent of savings made by the initiative would amount to around $400 billion.
This then translates to about $5,000 per household for the 78 million tax-paying households, as per Forbes.
It’s understood that households would receive their fair share of cash through the post.
Unfortunately, the DOGE dividend may end up competing with other priorities of the Trump administration, writes the outlet.
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CNN reports that it could complicate the country’s ongoing battle with elevated inflation, which the Republican leader recently blamed on his predecessor Joe Biden.
“Inflation is back,” he stated. “I had nothing to do with it.”
Forbes says that for the DOGE dividend to come to fruition, it first has to be legislatively authorised.
It’s understood that lawmakers may prefer to allocate and redistribute the federal saving cuts to priorities, such as reducing the national debt or extending existing tax provisions.
Due to ongoing lawsuits regarding DOGE - including various Democratic states working to halt its proceedings - the feasibility of any proposed dividend is impacted. This is because legal outcomes are currently unresolved, making it difficult to pin down what the initiative can and can’t do.
Another obstacle DOGE may face when it comes to sending out dividend cheques is the chance it could exacerbate inflationary pressures.
“If the plan here is to take hypothetical savings over a 10-year period and cut checks for 20 percent of it up-front, that sounds both inflationary and likely pretty fiscally reckless,” said Matt Glassman, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute.
Meanwhile, Preston Brashers, a research fellow for tax policy at the Heritage Foundation, said via social media that although he ‘loves’ what DOGE are doing, introducing the dividends is a ‘bad idea’.
“There’s no need to send ‘dividend checks.’ The dividend we get from slashing spending is that it brings inflation into check. But if the government sends out stimmy checks, inflation will come back with a vengeance,” he said.
Since the proposed DOGE dividends come from cuts, it’s important to know what the initiative has already halted.
So far, Musk's department has stopped the $50 billion-a-year USAID foreign aid agency and is currently in the process of getting rid of all 10,000 employees.
The $712 million Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also being dismantled by Musk while the $373 million funnelled into Education Department grants for funding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training sessions have been frozen.
Business Insider reports that DOGE has also set its sights on the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Defense.
The initiative is also currently working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to find ‘opportunities for more effective and efficient use of resources in line with meeting the goals of President Trump’.
For a full list of DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts so far, you can check out the official website.