Emily Brooks and The Hill
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (The Hill) — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) expressed skepticism regarding the suggestion of utilizing savings from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to issue checks to American citizens.
This stance contrasts with that of President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who have recently endorsed the idea.
During a discussion with Newsmax host Rob Finnerty at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, Johnson was lukewarm in his response.
“Well, look. I mean, politically that would be great for us, you know, it gives everybody a check,” Johnson remarked.
“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 and a significant deficit that we’re grappling with. I think we need to pay down the credit card, right?” Johnson continued.
The audience reacted with applause.
On Wednesday, Trump mentioned that his administration was contemplating using the DOGE savings for potential checks to Americans, alongside efforts to reduce the national debt.
“There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20 percent of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20 percent goes to paying down debt, because the numbers are incredible,” Trump stated at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute event in Miami.
This idea seems to originate from an Arizona CEO, who proposed a “DOGE Dividend” on the platform X. Musk responded on Tuesday: “Will check with the President.”
