James Fishback, the 30-year-old investment company founder who called for “DOGE dividend” checks of $5,000 to be sent to every tax paying American household, has insisted the plan won’t be inflationary, due to “very different” economic conditions.
Newsweek contacted Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), for comment on Thursday via emails sent to the Tesla and SpaceX press offices outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Critics have suggested Fishback’s proposed “DOGE dividend” payments could cause inflation to surge, as they would increase demand, but not supply. This would be politically damaging to Trump who was extremely critical of the Biden administration over inflation before the 2024 presidential election.
What to Know
Following his second presidential inauguration on January 20, Donald Trump created DOGE, under the leadership of Musk, to crack down on what he deems wasteful government spending. DOGE has already had a noticeable impact, creating thousands of job cuts across the federal government, and moving to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Fishback, who NBC News reports has been working as an adviser to DOGE, suggested the money saved could be sent back to American taxpayers in $5,000 per household “DOGE dividend” payments and in February, President Trump said the idea was “under consideration.”
DOGE claims to have already cut $55 billion in federal government spending, though this figure has not been independently verified.
During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021 the Biden administration paid out three rounds of stimulus checks to American households, arguing the move would stimulate the economy and help families get through the emergency. However, critics argued this boosted the U.S. inflation rate which in May 2022 hit 8.6 percent, the highest rate in over 40 years, according to Labor Department figures.
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Speaking to Fox Business, Fishback, who also heads investment firm Azoria, insisted his proposed payments won’t cause inflation to surge, claiming there is a “very different” macroeconomic situation to when the Biden administration sent out stimulus checks during the pandemic.
He said: “Here’s why: think about the macro backdrop when those checks went out in 2021. We had a supply chain crisis, we had a labor shortage, we had all sorts of dislocations in the economy not to mention the fact that the Fed was printing $100 billion a month and rates were at zero.
“The macro backdrop now is very different. ‘Drill baby drill’ means lower energy prices, deregulation, fiscal spending actually being reined in. So the backdrop is very different. And then polling data suggests that 70 percent of Americans who would receive a DOGE dividend check like this would actually use it to pay down debt of their own, much of which they took on just to keep their head above water during the Biden-Harris regime.
“And so if you pay down debt with a check like this that’s not inflationary that’s actually deflationary and so I trust the American people.”
Fishback made a similar argument during an appearance on The Dana Show, hosted by former Breitbart editor Dana Loesch, commenting: “Now look at the macro backdrop today, energy prices are coming down, we’re reining in spending, we’re deregulating the economy—couldn’t be more different today versus what we saw under Biden in 2021.”
What People Are Saying
Speaking at the FII Priority Summit on February 19 Trump said: “There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20 percent of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20 percent goes to paying down debt.”
Addressing Newsweek Lance Roberts, chief investment strategist and economist at RIA Advisors, said: “If you increase demand, without a subsequent increase in supply, inflation is the result. A tax credit would be more beneficial in helping the bottom 50 percent of income tax payers that pay little or no taxes (they get a refund) but won’t create as big of a demand surge.”
On X in response to Fishback’s ‘DOGE dividend’ check proposal Musk commented: “check with the president,” indicating he is open to the idea.
What Happens Next
While the matter is clearly under consideration, no formal announcements about “DOGE dividend” checks for American taxpaying households have been made, and it remains to be seen whether Trump will end up giving the plan the green light.
