Plus, more on how the stimulus check idea was proposed
AMERICANS’ hope of receiving $5,000 stimulus checks from the Department of Government Efficiency’s savings has been refreshed after billionaire Elon Musk spoke out on the future of the payments.
Musk, who runs the organization alongside the president and recently named acting administrator Amy Gleason, discussed the dividend payments at a rally in Wisconsin on Sunday.
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DOGE, established when President Donald Trump took office in January, has set out to reduce the “bloated” size of the federal government through mass layoffs and other cost-cutting initiatives.
The department has claimed to have saved upwards of $100 billion dollars over the past three months.
DOGE previously offered hope to Americans of a “DOGE dividend,” through which 20% of the department’s savings would be redistributed to taxpayers as stimulus checks.
“The numbers are incredible, Elon. So many millions, billions – hundreds of billions. And we’re thinking about giving 20% back to the American citizens,” the president said in a speech last month.
During a rally in Wisconsin over the weekend, an audience member questioned Elon Musk on when he expected DOGE’s billions of dollars in savings be returned to Americans.
What is DOGE?
The US DOGE Service Temporary Organization, also called the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, is an initiative created by President Donald Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk.
DOGE was created to significantly reduce federal spending and “modernize federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
When first introduced, it aimed to save as much as $2 trillion dollars annually.
The organization cited that it has already saved $65 billion in government spending, although the number has not been verified.
DOGE has already made significant cuts across multiple agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Education, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I’m only 26, but I can imagine it is frustrating for people who have worked their entire lives to see their tax dollars go to fraud, waste, and abuse,” she told the Tesla CEO. “You’ve clearly shown your leadership and team is capable of transforming our government into something better than we see today.”
“I just want to say – I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s wondering – but we know that DOGE has found quite a bit of money, and we would like to see some of that return to the American people. Do you have any information on when DOGE checks will be written or sent out?” asked the rally attendee.
The billionaire admitted that while progress had been made, there was still a “tremendous” amount of work to do within the federal government.
“As government spending is made more efficient, as government spending is reduced, the tax by inflation is reduced. So one way or another, you will effectively be better off if resources in the US are not wasted,” Musk responded.
“It’s up to the Congress and maybe the president too, you know, as to whether specific checks are cut. But whether checks are cut or not, if you reduce wasteful spending, the economy is going to be better off.”
A FRESH IDEA
The idea of redistributing DOGE’s savings to the American people was originally proposed by Azoria investment firm CEO James Fishback in an X post from February.
“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,” wrote Fishback.
He added that the checks, to be exclusively sent to tax-paying households as refunds, would be “exclusively funded with DOGE-driven savings, unlike COVID stimulus checks which were deficit-financed.”
The CEO projected that around $400 billion would be divided among 79 million households, totaling roughly $5,000 per household.
At the time, Musk responded with: “Will check with the President.”
The billionaire relayed the proposal to Trump, who called it “a great idea.”
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s complicated relationship
Former president Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s relationship started rocky, but the pair have since reconciled, with Musk fully endorsing Trump and interviewing him on X Spaces on August 12.
In 2022, Elon Musk and Donald Trump publicly feuded on X, then still known as Twitter.
Trump called Musk a liar and “bulls**t artist” during a rally in Alaska.
“Elon is not going to buy Twitter,” Trump said at the time.
“You know, he said the other day, ‘I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know that – you told me you voted for me. So he’s another bulls**t artist, but he’s not going to be buying it.”
In response to Trump’s critiques, the SpaceX founder clapped back.
“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,” Musk posted.
Musk also went on to buy X months later.
The X owner said he had previously voted mostly for Democrats since becoming a United States citizen in 2002.
Musk initially backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.
“My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist,” Musk wrote on X in 2022.
“I had hoped that would [be] the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far.”
His shift in political parties might be attributed to his plummeting relationship with President Joe Biden who didn’t invite Musk to the 2021 White House electric vehicle summit.
Despite their past issues, Trump and Musk’s relationship took a turn in March after they met at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump was also previously against electric vehicles but has since changed his stance.
“I’m for electric cars,” he said at a rally earlier this month.
“I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice.”
Following the assassination attempt at Trump’s rally in July, Musk announced his support for the former president.
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on X after the shooting.
During a recent press conference, Trump spoke highly of Musk.
“I respect Elon a lot. He respects me,” he said.
“Elon, more than almost anybody I know, he loves this country. He loves the concept of this country, but like me, he says this country is in big trouble, it’s in tremendous danger.”
Musk has been pictured at events at Mar-a-Lago and the UFC, buddying up with Trump.
Trump selected Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency – a taskforce aimed at cutting bureaucracy.
The president announced that the administration was considering handing back 20% of DOGE’s savings to taxpayers and putting another 20% toward paying down federal debt, he shared at the FII Priority Summit in Miami in February.
However, the fate of the stimulus checks ultimately lies in the hands of Congress, where the plan has already faced some resistance.
“Politically, that would be great for us, you know, because everybody gets a check,” said Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson during the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference last month.
“But if you think about our core principles, right, fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives. That’s our brand and we have a $36 trillion federal debt. We have a giant deficit that we’re contending with. I think we need to pay down the credit card, right?”
The U.S. Sun previously spoke with a tax expert on the truth behind the DOGE stimulus checks.
Plus, read more about what needs to happen in order for millions to get the $5,000 checks before 2026.