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U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration is exploring the option of giving 20% of savings identified by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative back to American citizens, a notion previously discussed on the social media platform X.
During a dialogue with global financiers and technology leaders at a meeting organized by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in Miami, Trump mentioned the possibility of allocating another 20% of these savings toward reducing the national debt.
“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 stated in Miami.
This idea originated from businessman James Fishback, who shared a four-page memo on X suggesting a “DOGE dividend,” which garnered significant attention.
Musk took notice of Fishback’s post and replied, expressing intent to discuss the proposal with the President.
According to a source familiar with the discussions, Fishback, who is the CEO of Azoria Partners, has since been in contact with the Trump administration regarding his proposal.
Fishback’s memo proposes channeling 20% of the anticipated savings from DOGE—estimated to reach $400 billion—to distribute a $5,000 check to each taxpaying household once DOGE concludes its activities in July 2026.
The basis for this calculation is rooted in DOGE achieving $2 trillion in savings, which Musk has termed a “best-case outcome,” while setting a $1 trillion goal.
According to a Reuters analysis of partial data from Musk’s team, his cost-saving initiatives have so far eliminated numerous smaller contracts, cumulatively saving U.S. taxpayers approximately $8.5 billion—though this figure is relatively small compared to the total that the U.S. government allocates to contractors annually.
For context, Musk’s own company, SpaceX, has contracts worth around $22 billion with the federal government.
Commentary from experienced Republican budget analysts suggests that the initial phase of Musk’s undertaking seems more like an ideological critique of federal agencies that conservatives typically oppose, rather than a sincere drive to conserve taxpayer funds.
Source
www.yahoo.com