Billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is the de facto leader of the newly established U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, is now weighing whether American taxpayers should get refund checks following extensive cuts in federal spending.
In a post on Musk's social media platform X, one user proposed that Musk and President Donald Trump should announce a $5,000 "DOGE Dividend" payment to taxpayers due to the recent "savings delivered by DOGE."
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"With DOGE reportedly achieving $1 billion in savings per day, President Trump has an opportunity to work with Congress to take DOGE one step further and deliver... a tax refund check to be sent after the expiration of DOGE in July 2026 funded exclusively with a portion of the total savings delivered by DOGE," James Fishback, CEO of Azoria investment firm, said in his request.
"DOGE is targeting $2 trillion in total savings. Take 20% of DOGE's total savings ($400 billion) and return it to the ~79 million U.S. households that will be net payers of federal income tax in CY [calendar year] 2025 as a tax-refund check called the 'DOGE Dividend'," Fishback added. "$400 billion in DOGE-driven savings *divided by* 79 million tax-paying households = $5,000 'DOGE Dividend' check per tax-paying household."
Musk replied to the request, stating, "Will check with the President."
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The Trump administration created DOGE without congressional approval to reduce what it described as wasteful government spending, leading to the termination of thousands of federal employees across multiple agencies. The administration maintains Musk's efforts are making the government more efficient.
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It remains to be seen whether DOGE — at the directive of Musk — has actually increased the productivity of the federal government. However, he claims the department's initiatives have saved billions of dollars in taxpayer money.
In the meantime, multiple legal actions have been taken against DOGE and the Trump administration, seeking to stop the layoffs of thousands of federal workers and to prevent Musk and his team from accessing the sensitive private data of millions of Americans — all things a federal judge ruled against on Monday.
