The potential for a check from the Department of Government Efficiency (commonly known as DOGE) has garnered significant attention lately, especially considering it could mean a $5,000 windfall for many individuals.
The concept was initially introduced by President Donald Trump, who cited investment firm CEO James Fishback’s proposal in late February.
“We are thinking about allocating 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens and another 20% to reducing the national debt,” Trump remarked during the Saudi-sponsored FII PRIORITY Summit held in Miami Beach last month.
This announcement coincided with a report from USA TODAY, highlighting that DOGE’s website had published misleading claims regarding its savings, including a significant error amounting to almost $8 billion.
So, how would this new stimulus payment come to fruition? Here’s what you should know:
Is a DOGE stimulus check on the horizon?
Currently, there are no indications that DOGE will issue a stimulus check as part of its cost-reduction initiatives. Any government-issued stimulus payment would require congressional approval. In short, don’t expect anything to happen anytime soon.
Did people receive stimulus checks in 2025?
Yes, indeed.
The Internal Revenue Service distributed stimulus checks to taxpayers who had not claimed a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns. This credit was intended for those who did not receive previous stimulus payments.
Announced in December under the Biden administration, the stimulus was authorized after IRS data revealed that many eligible taxpayers who filed their 2021 tax returns failed to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.
The payments were issued throughout December and January, with eligible individuals receiving up to $1,400, as stated by the IRS.
Can individuals still claim the $1,400 stimulus check?
Taxpayers who did not submit a 2021 tax return may still qualify for the stimulus check if they file their return and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit by April 15, according to the IRS.
What is DOGE?
DOGE, officially known as the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, is an initiative established by Trump and led by “special government employee” Musk.
The mission of DOGE aims to reduce federal spending, deregulate, and “modernize federal technology and software to enhance government efficiency and productivity.”
Who would be eligible for the $5,000 DOGE stimulus checks?
While Trump did not provide further details regarding the potential DOGE dividend or its likelihood, Fishback’s four-page proposal suggested that the DOGE dividend would be a refund “sent exclusively to tax-paying householders,” and limited to households with incomes above a specific threshold, contrasting with the indiscriminate nature of pandemic-era checks.
Fishback emphasized that unlike previous stimulus checks, DOGE checks would not contribute to inflation as they would be “entirely funded by DOGE-driven savings, differing from COVID stimulus checks which were financed by deficit spending.”
“Many low-income households effectively received transfer payments amounting to 25 to 30% of their annual income,” Fishback remarked about the pandemic stimulus checks, adding that “this exclusively targets households that are net payers of federal income tax, which implies they have a lower tendency to spend and a higher likelihood of saving a transfer payment like the DOGE dividend.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: When can we expect the stimulus check in 2025? Is a DOGE check really coming?
