“Will Check With President”: Elon Musk On $5,000 ‘DOGE Dividend’ Plan

James Fishback, the CEO of investment firm Azoria, has proposed the idea of a DOGE Dividend. Mr Fishback, reportedly an outside adviser to DOGE, posted on social media that the proposal would guarantee a $5,000 (Rs 4,34,730) refund to every American taxpayer household, funded by savings from the Department of Government Efficiency.

He wrote on X, “President Trump and @ElonMusk should announce a ‘DOGE Dividend’-a tax refund check sent to every taxpayer, funded exclusively with a portion of the total savings delivered by DOGE.”

The proposal was met with a positive response from Elon Musk, who heads DOGE under Trump 2.0. The billionaire also said that he would speak with the President.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1891967592048611532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Mr Fishback, in another tweet, said that American taxpayers deserve a ‘DOGE Dividend’. Twenty per cent of the money that DOGE saves should be sent back to hard-working Americans as a tax refund check. 

He further said that it was their money in the first place. At $2 trillion in DOGE savings and 78 million tax-paying households, this is a $5,000 refund per household, with the remaining used to pay down the national debt, he added.

https://twitter.com/j_fishback/status/1890529485574861296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

“Obviously, the President is the Commander-in-Chief, so this is entirely up to him,” Mr Musk said in response to another tweet about the proposed dividend after his comment to Mr Fishback gained popularity.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1891987963346637227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Mr Fishback thanked Mr Musk, saying, “Honoured that @ElonMusk has expressed interest in our DOGE Dividend proposal for President Trump.”

https://twitter.com/j_fishback/status/1891975184317313099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The proposal states that the DOGE Dividend helps taxpayers by compensating them for the misuse of their tax money.

It further argues that it shares the benefits of DOGE’s cost savings with American taxpayers, incentivising them to report instances of waste, fraud, and abuse to DOGE. This increases the total amount of savings and the size of their dividend check.

The promise of a $5,000 DOGE Dividend in 2026 will encourage more people to re-enter the labour force in 2025 to qualify for it. Right now, low workforce participation is slowing the US economy, according to the proposal.

The DOGE Dividend would provide a strong incentive for people to return to work, helping to improve this situation, said the proposal.

President Trump appointed Mr Musk as the head of DOGE in November, but the White House stated that the billionaire had no formal authority to make government decisions.

This clarification came after Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit, arguing that Trump’s appointment of Musk, who was never elected, violated the Constitution.