President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been full-steam ahead with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE and those working for the new department, have been working to uncover waste and fraud within the federal government.
By doing this, DOGE claims that they will save the government billions of dollars. But now, Trump’s announced that he’s thinking about giving 20% of DOGE’s savings directly to the American taxpayer. That would in turn put thousands of dollars in possession of U.S. citizens.
“There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens and 20% goes to paying down debt,” Trump announced while speaking in Miami Beach earlier this week. “The numbers are incredible, Elon, so many billions — hundreds of billions — and we’re thinking about giving 20% back to the American citizens.”
DOGE’s Savings Thus Far
While there isn’t a set number that DOGE has saved so far, Elon Musk has announced that he wants to cut $1 trillion a year from the federal government. This could be in the form of closing agencies, firing numerous employees, and shutting down wasteful government contracts.
USAID is one of the agencies that has been effectively closed thanks to DOGE’s efforts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is another agency that’s been in the crosshairs of DOGE and is likely to be shut down as well. That agency holds $712 million in funds.
DOGE has also discovered $1.9 billion in “misplaced” funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as canceled diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) grants for the Department of Education. Those grants amounted to $373 million.
Academic progress tracking grants were also axed from the Department of Education thanks to DOGE. Those amounted to $900 million in funds.
Goal For DOGE Moving Forward
Elon Musk, a tech mogul and the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is planning to work on overhauling the government’s fiscal spending for roughly four months.
James Fishback, an investor and an advocate for DOGE providing a dividend for taxpayers, claims that if $2 trillion is saved in two years, then that would add up to $25,000 per taxpayer. Of course that is a rough estimate.
But if Trump follows through with distributing a 20% dividend, then taxpayers could expect $5,000 in their pockets. Musk hasn’t given approval for a specific amount, however.
“The amount would … obviously be proportionate to how much savings DOGE actually achieves,” Musk said in a post on X. “More savings would mean a bigger tax reduction! The top DOGE priority remains however reducing the deficit to stop inflation and lower people’s interest rates.”
The Fairview Gazette will keep our readers updated on any new information regarding the proposed DOGE taxpayer dividend.
