President Trump has endorsed a controversial plan to distribute $5,000 checks to taxpayers using savings from Elon Musk’s DOGE savings initiative, sparking heated debates about economic feasibility and inflation risks. The proposal hinges on Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) achieving $2 trillion in spending cuts by 2026 – a target budget experts call mathematically improbable given current federal spending patterns.
Investment strategist James Fishback first floated the idea on social media, suggesting 20% of DOGE’s projected savings could fund direct payments to 79 million taxpaying households.
We uncovered enormous waste, fraud, and abuse,Fishback told AP. This is about rewriting the social contract between taxpayers and Washington.
Key challenges facing the proposal include:
- The $6.8 trillion federal budget’s structural reliance on mandatory spending
- DOGE’s current $55 billion savings representing less than 1% of Musk’s target
- 40% of Americans not qualifying due to non-payment of income taxes
Former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Elmendorf notes government efficiency cuts rarely yield significant savings: Eliminating all federal civilian jobs would still leave 95% of spending intact. University of Pennsylvania researcher John DiIulio Jr. adds that contractors and grant recipients now employ three times more workers than direct government staff.
Economists remain divided on inflation impacts. White House advisor Kevin Hassett argues redirecting existing funds wouldn’t increase money supply, while Yale’s Ernie Tedeschi counters: More checks could worsen labor shortages and price spikes. The debate echoes 2021’s stimulus package criticisms, which Trump allies blame for historic inflation.
With the national debt at $34 trillion and annual deficits nearing $2 trillion, many experts suggest any DOGE savings should first address fiscal imbalances. As Brookings Institution analyst Elaine Kamarck bluntly states: There’s no money there. The idea is ridiculous. The proposal faces mounting scrutiny as 2026 implementation deadlines approach.
