Emily Brooks and The Hill
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (The Hill) — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) dismissed the notion of utilizing savings from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) aimed at reducing government expenses to distribute checks to Americans.
This stance contrasts with President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who have recently entertained the idea.
In response to a question from Newsmax host Rob Finnerty during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Johnson appeared unenthused.
“Well, look. I mean, politically that would be great for us, you know, it gives everybody a check,” Johnson commented.
“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, we have a giant deficit that we’re contending with. I think we need to pay down the credit card, right?” Johnson added.
The audience responded with applause.
On Wednesday, Trump stated that the administration was exploring the use of DOGE savings to potentially provide checks to Americans while also applying funds to debt reduction.
“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 remarked at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute gathering in Miami.
This idea seems to stem from an Arizona CEO who proposed a “DOGE Dividend” on the social media platform X, to which Musk replied on Tuesday: “Will check with the President.”
