President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is contemplating giving out a 'DOGE dividend' by returning 20 percent of the savings from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to taxpayers. The move could result in thousands of dollars being returned to Americans who are facing financial challenges due to soaring inflation.
Musk's DOGE has been aggressively cutting down government agencies, enforcing a directive to eliminate waste and fraud by any means necessary. On Tuesday, the Tesla billionaire and "First Buddy" promised to "check with the president" after investment firm CEO James Fishback proposed that a portion of the savings be returned to taxpayers through a tax refund.
Trump's Bonus to Taxpayers
On Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that he was considering the proposal, noting its potential advantages. Fishback had estimated that the plan could provide each taxpayer with a $5,000 refund.
"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," Trump said in a Miami Beach speech to a nonprofit funded by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
"The numbers are incredible, Elon, so many billions — hundreds of billions — and we're thinking about giving 20% back to the American citizens."
If implemented, the policy could return thousands of dollars to taxpayers at a time when soaring expenses are making it harder for middle-class Americans to make ends meet.
The exact amount saved by DOGE so far remains unclear, but Musk has set a target of cutting $1 trillion in costs annually. His 100-person team is fast overhauling the federal bureaucracy by shutting down certain agencies, laying off large numbers of employees, and terminating contracts considered unnecessary.
Musk's Actions Could Bear Fruit
On Friday, DOGE said that it discovered $1.9 billion in excess and "misplaced" funds within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It also revoked $373 million in Education Department grants that were allocated for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training programs.
Also last week, the initiative eliminated $900 million in Education Department grants intended for monitoring academic performance and set its sights on scrutinizing the Pentagon's massive discretionary budget.
Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owns X, has said that he plans to oversee the financial restructuring for approximately four months.
On Wednesday, Musk tweeted that he has not endorsed a specific payout amount and suggested the dividend could instead come in the form of reduced tax bills. "The amount would... obviously be proportionate to how much savings DOGE actually achieves," he wrote.
"More savings would mean a bigger tax reduction! The top DOGE priority remains however reducing the deficit to stop inflation and lower people's interest rates."
