The creator of the "Doge Dividend" has acknowledged that the $5,000 figure is not guaranteed and could fluctuate based on savings.

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DOGE Stimulus Check Update: Payments Sent Out Might Not Be $5,000​

Published Mar 18, 2025 at 1:33 PM EDT

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The mastermind behind the proposal to issue "DOGE dividend" checks to Americans has suggested payments may not be $5,000.
James Fishback, CEO of the Azoria investment firm, has acknowledged that the $5,000 payment figure is not guaranteed and could fluctuate depending on actual government savings.
"DOGE is going to save what DOGE is going to save. And I think that DOGE will save the most amount of money possible. If millions of Americans are deputized to report wasteful government spending," Fishback told Newsweek.

Why It Matters​

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), responsible for cutting operational costs, has reduced the size of several federal agencies to streamline the government.
President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk have supported a proposal to use a proportion of these savings to issue $5,000 checks to American taxpayers.
While the plan aims to return a portion of the savings to taxpayers, it has not yet been finalized and would require approval by Congress.

DOGE's Elon Musk and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

What To Know​

"We think DOGE can save $2 trillion over the next couple of years. If you take 20 percent of that as the DOGE dividend calls for and send it back to taxpayers, 20 percent of $2 trillion is $400 billion," Fishback said on The David Lin Report.
"And there are roughly 80 million taxpaying households in America. So if you then go $400 billion divided by 80 million, you end up with a check of roughly $5,000 to each taxpaying household. That's what we think we can get to."
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However, Fishback emphasized that the payout could vary depending on actual savings.
"But again, this plan is not predestined to the $5,000 number," he said. "If the savings come in above or below that, the check will be reflected accordingly. So again, if the savings are only $1 trillion, which I think is awfully low, the check goes from $5,000 to $2,500,"
"If the savings are only $500 billion, which, again, is really, really low, then the savings are only $1,250.
Fishback also argued that the proposal encourages public engagement by giving Americans a financial incentive to report government waste.
"It incentivizes millions of Americans to report waste in government spending that they themselves see. Why would they do that? Because they have every incentive to do it," he said.
Under the proposal, 20 percent of the savings generated by DOGE would be distributed to taxpayers as stimulus checks. According to the DOGE website, with current savings of $115 billion, each taxpayer would receive approximately $142 if payments were issued today.
The DOGE payment initiative faces renewed challenges, as recent fiscal reports indicate that Musk's department's anticipated savings have yet to materialize.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported a 5 percent increase in the federal deficit for February, driven by a 7 percent rise in spending compared to the same month last year.
The DOGE stimulus plan proposes allocating 20 percent of the department's savings to taxpayers and another 20 percent to reduce the national debt. It projects $2 trillion in savings over 18 months, which would fund $400 billion in direct payments—providing $5,000 checks to approximately 79 million taxpayers.
However, the latest CBO data raises doubts about the plan's feasibility. The federal government borrowed $1.1 trillion during the first five months of Fiscal Year 2025, including $308 billion in February alone.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on X, formerly Twitter, that he is "happy" to send a check once the government balances the budget:
"The waste, fraud, and abuse DOGE is uncovering should be used to reduce spending so we can balance the budget," he wrote.

What People Are Saying​

James Fishback, CEO of the Azoria investment firm, said: "The more the government saves with DOGE, the bigger their DOGE dividend check is.
"The DOGE dividend re-incentivizes the taxpayer to be on board with fiscal responsibility and cost savings but also incentivizes them to report it themselves, as the president said in that speech. If you see waste, if you see fraud, if you see abuse, let DOGE know. The more DOGE saves, the bigger that DOGE check is.
Brendan Duke, senior director for Federal Budget Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Newsweek: "A DOGE dividend is completely unrealistic—CBO showed that both federal spending and deficits last February were larger than the previous February, showing that any savings DOGE has achieved are cosmetic.

What Happens Next​

Whether Fishback's proposal will become official government policy or when Americans might start receiving checks remains uncertain.
Although the DOGE Dividend plan has gained backing from figures like Trump and Musk, it is still in the proposal stage. Implementing the plan would require further legislative approval, with the earliest potential payouts expected in 2026.