Elon Musk stated that U.S. President Donald Trump supports his proposal to distribute savings from a government cost-cutting initiative directly to citizens, potentially setting up a conflict with Republican deficit enthusiasts. Musk, who serves as the unofficial leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), mentioned at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday that the President was supportive of the idea.
Musk recently embraced the notion of sending “Doge dividend cheques” to Americans, an idea initially proposed on social media by investor James Fishback, who was an early adviser to the plan. Fishback suggested that households could receive $5,000 each if Doge succeeded in its objective to reduce $2 trillion in government spending, a target Musk acknowledged as potentially too ambitious.
Doge has aggressively tackled government agencies, terminating hundreds of contracts and suspending tens of thousands of federal workers, claiming to have already achieved $55 billion in savings. However, this figure has been contested by several independent analyses. Trump mentioned on Wednesday that he was considering allocating “20 percent of the Doge savings to American citizens” and using another fifth to reduce the national debt, with the aim of encouraging citizens to report instances of government fraud and waste.
However, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump supporter who also spoke at CPAC, argued that the proposal conflicted with Republican values. Johnson emphasized the importance of fiscal responsibility, noting the $36 trillion federal debt and significant deficit. Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, a Trump ally running for U.S. Congress, also expressed opposition to the Doge dividend distributions, voicing concerns about the financial implications.
Republicans have historically blamed the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion Covid-era stimulus checks for contributing to inflation, a claim highlighted in television ads before the previous presidential election. However, during a White House briefing on Thursday, Trump’s National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, downplayed the likelihood of Doge dividend checks having a similar impact. Hassett explained that if government money is returned to citizens rather than spent, inflation could be reduced as people might choose to save it.
Musk appeared to appreciate the political impact of such checks, describing them as funds taken from harmful organizations and returned to the people, framing it as a victory.
