Will $5,000 DOGE Stimulus Checks Be Released? Here’s Elon Musk’s Take.

There have been rumors regarding the arrival of a stimulus check from the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative. Will you receive a check, refund, or dividend, and where would this funding originate?

Americans were given a partial update about when a DOGE check could potentially arrive.

At a rally in Wisconsin on Sunday, Elon Musk, representing the Department of Governmental Efficiency, addressed inquiries about a possible DOGE stimulus check.

Here’s what Musk had to say.

What is DOGE?

The Department of Government Efficiency, formally known as the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, is an initiative established by Trump, with Musk serving as a ‘special government employee’.

The mission of DOGE aims to curtail federal expenditures, simplify regulations, and modernize federal technology and software to improve government efficiency and productivity.

What did Elon Musk say about a DOGE stimulus check?

The Tesla mogul indicated that a distribution from DOGE would require a congressional vote.

“It’s somewhat up to Congress and maybe the president too as to whether specific checks are cut,” Musk stated.

Musk mentioned that Americans would feel the effects of the sweeping and deep cuts his team is implementing, which is intended to provide relief from inflation.

“As government spending becomes more efficient and is reduced, the tax by inflation decreases,” Musk remarked.

Who would qualify for a DOGE stimulus check?

The proposed refund would be directed solely to households that qualify as net-income taxpayers—those who contribute more in taxes than they receive back—while lower-income Americans would not be eligible for this return, as indicated by news reports. The Pew Research Center highlights that most Americans with an adjusted gross income under $40,000 effectively pay no federal income tax.

The suggested DOGE refund check would be awarded per household, rather than to each individual taxpayer, including those receiving Social Security benefits who meet the income tax criteria.

Details about the potential ‘DOGE dividend’ and its certainty remain unclear, as Trump has not provided further specifics.

When might you expect a DOGE stimulus check?

There are currently no signs that a DOGE stimulus check will be issued as a result of cost-cutting initiatives. Any government stimulus payment would necessitate congressional approval. Don’t anticipate a check anytime soon.

Originally, DOGE aimed to save up to $2 trillion annually. They claim to have already achieved savings of $140 billion through government cuts, although this figure remains unverified.

According to WHYY.org, those numbers do not correlate. “An NPR review of the over 1,100 contracts in that initial release indicates that DOGE’s ‘maximally transparent’ calculations still overestimate its projected savings by billions of dollars,” WHYY.org reports.

The agency has enacted substantial reductions across multiple federal departments, resulting in widespread job cuts among federal employees. Affected departments include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

— Report contributed by USA TODAY Network reporter James Powel.