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| - In February 2025, social media users claimed Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, said he would talk to U.S. President Donald Trump about a suggestion to use DOGE savings to give a $5,000 refund to every taxpaying household in the country.
Users on Reddit and X spread the claim that Musk was considering a "DOGE dividend" (archived, archived). The business magazine Forbes reported that the billionaire was mulling "sending all Americans $5,000 checks," while the political digital newspaper Politico said Musk had expressed "interest" in the idea.
(X / @unusual_whales)
On Feb. 18, 2025, Musk said on X that he would "check with the President" about the idea (archived). He was responding to a plan put forward by James Fishback, CEO of investment company Azoria and reportedly an outside adviser to DOGE. Because of this, the claim is true.
In a series of documents included in his X post (archived), Fishback outlined a plan for a "DOGE dividend" to be exclusively funded by the department's $2 trillion savings target. He suggested DOGE could take 20% of that savings ($400 billion) and divide it between roughly 79 million taxpaying U.S. households, approximately $5,000 per household.
(X / @j_fishback)
However, it is not clear whether Musk read the entire content of Fishback's proposals.
Later on Feb. 18, Musk responded to an X post that claimed he would be discussing the idea with Trump, saying the president is the "Commander-in-Chief, so this is entirely up to him" (archived, archived).
On Feb. 19, Trump told attendees of the FII PRIORITY Summit investment conference in Miami Beach, Florida, that his administration was deliberating the proposal. In a video of his speech posted by the White House YouTube channel, he said:
There's even under consideration a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens and 20% goes to paying down debt. Because the numbers are incredible, Elon. So many billions of dollars — billions, hundreds of billions. And we're thinking about giving 20% back to the American citizens.
Some experts have expressed skepticism regarding the claim that DOGE could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. Musk even cast doubt on the figure in early January 2025, telling political strategist Mark Penn in an interview broadcast on X:
I think we'll try for 2 trillion. I think that's like, the best-case outcome. But I do think that you kind of have to have some overreach. I think if we try for 2 trillion we've got a good shot at getting 1 [trillion]."
Fishback's plan suggested that, should the proposal be accepted, the tax refund could be sent after the expiration of DOGE in July 2026.
We contacted the White House for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.
Trump previously issued government-issued checks during the coronavirus pandemic, when he sent out stimulus checks that had his signature on them to millions of Americans.
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