The DOGE stimulus check initiative, spearheaded by James Fishback and supported by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, seeks to distribute between $1,200 and $5,000 to net taxpayers, excluding low-income households. However, its approval is uncertain due to the lack of confirmed savings in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and concerns about inflation and the rising federal deficit.
The original plan proposed funding the payments with 20% of the $2 trillion in projected savings from the DOGE, but data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows a 5% increase, according to recent reports, as the political debate prioritizes reducing the national debt.
DOGE stimulus check proposal faces uncertainties
The DOGE stimulus checks have not been officially approved and face obstacles due to the lack of confirmed savings from the DOGE Department. The initiative recommends checks of $1,200 to $5,000 for net taxpayers, excluding low-income households. Trump and Musk support the idea, but critics warn of inflation and increased deficits.
According to initial projections, as offered by Musk himself, the DOGE department was going to save $2 trillion in savings over 18 months, with 20% going to checks and another 20% going to reducing the national debt.
However, data from the CBO reveals a 5% increase in the federal deficit in February 2025, calling into question the viability of the plan to distribute those stimulus checks.
James Fishback, the creator of the proposal, maintains that the checks would improve public confidence and would not be inflationary. “They’re funded out of savings already generated,” he told Newsweek. However, experts like Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution call the idea “ludicrous” due to the lack of sufficient funding.
The initial amount of $5,000 per household was revised to between $1,200 and $2,500, according to khou.com, due to the lack of concrete savings. Eligibility is limited to net taxpayers (households that pay more federal taxes than they receive), excluding those with adjusted gross incomes below $40,000.
In a podcast, Fishback suggested that an employment requirement could be included to encourage reemployment: the proposal expires in July 2026, which would accelerate the push for its implementation.
However, the Trump administration has requested $1.1 trillion in borrowing in 2025, according to the CBO, compounding concerns about funding.
What Trump has said most recently
Donald Trump expressed interest in distributing 20% of the savings to citizens, according to several news sites, but conditioned his support on deficit reductions. DOGE leader Elon Musk initially backed the idea, but in a post on X, he questioned the department’s ability to generate sufficient savings.
House Speaker Mike Johnson prioritized using the savings for federal debt instead of stimulus checks. Experts like Jay Zagorsky (Boston University) warned that the payments could increase inflation, while former Trump adviser Kevin Hassett argued that they would not affect prices by using already budgeted funds.
