In the month since President Donald Trump’s second term commenced, Elon Musk and DOGE have been actively involved in reducing federal jobs. If the sight of individuals losing their jobs concerns you, there might be some promising news on the horizon.
Might be.
Recently, the idea of DOGE utilizing some of its alleged government savings to issue dividend checks to the American populace has gained traction. This conversation originated on social media, sparked by Azoria investment firm CEO James Fishback.
As reported by USA Today, “Musk, whom the Trump administration contended in court does not technically work for DOGE,” replied to Fishback on X, stating, “Will check with the President.”
Such financial distributions could potentially offer concrete proof to Americans of the savings achieved. In the absence of this, it seems the cuts are occurring rapidly, without any indicated plan to reimburse the taxpayer.
Trump also commented on the proposal.
“There’s even a new idea under consideration, where we allocate 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and another 20% towards debt repayment,” Trump remarked during a recent speech in Miami.
However, if you’re at home with your bank account depleted, feeling hopeful about a prospective windfall — Fishback’s proposal reportedly suggests $5,000 payments — you may have some unfavorable news ahead. This is because, if your finances are indeed at a low point, there’s a strong possibility you won’t qualify to receive a DOGE check — assuming they ever materialize — under Fishback’s criteria.
According to Newsweek, Fishback’s initiative specifies that payments would only be issued to “households that are net-payers of federal income tax.” This implies that only those who pay more in taxes than they receive back would qualify for the stimulus payments. Furthermore, the site indicated that the majority of Americans who “have an adjusted gross income of less than $40,000 annually effectively pay no federal income tax.”
Thus, lower-income individuals are excluded from the current proposal, according to Newsweek.
If you find yourself in that category, don’t fret. At this point, there is no assurance that anyone will receive a stimulus check from DOGE, so it’s still entirely possible that no funds will be distributed at all.
