Elon Musk said he’s going to touch base with President Donald Trump on a proposal to send Americans tax refund checks from money saved by the Department of Government Efficiency advisory group he heads.
In a post Tuesday on X, the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive said he “Will check with the President.” The remark came in response to a separate post from James Fishback, CEO of the Azoria investment firm, suggesting that Trump has the opportunity to issue a so-called DOGE Dividend in the form of a tax refund check sent to U.S. households funded by savings created by DOGE’s cost-cutting campaign.
Musk has said that his goal is to cut federal spending by $2 trillion, out of a $6.75 trillion annual budget in the latest fiscal year ended last Sept. 30. If that were met, Fishback suggests taking 20% of that, or $400 billion, and distributing it to taxpayers. That would amount to approximately $5,000 per household, he said.
“When a breach of this magnitude happens in the private sector, the counterparty, at minimum, refunds the customer since they failed to deliver what was promised,” Fishback wrote in his proposal. “It’s high time for the federal government to do the same, and refund money back to taxpayers given what DOGE has uncovered.”
Government stimulus checks mailed to millions of taxpayers in 2020 during the Covid pandemic bore Trump’s signature, the first time a president’s name appeared on any IRS payments, The Associated Press reported at the time.
According to DOGE, it has saved an estimated $55 billion through its efforts. However, recent reports suggest that the actual figure is likely far below that.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the DOGE website only accounts for $16.6 billion of the $55 billion it claims to have saved. On Tuesday, The New York Times said DOGE mistakenly cited an $8 billion saving on a federal contract that was actually for $8 million instead.
Meanwhile, many of DOGE’s efforts have been met with court challenges. But a federal judge on Tuesday denied a request to stop DOGE from accessing federal agencies’ computer systems or directing government worker firings while litigation is ongoing.