- House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would prefer to use DOGE savings to pay down the federal debt, rather than send Americans stimulus checks. He made the comments at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
- Johnson said paying down the debt fits with conservatives’ fiscal responsibility brand.
- President Donald Trump said he is considering sending 20% of DOGE savings back to taxpayers.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would not endorse a plan to give Americans stimulus checks, paid for with money saved by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). President Donald Trump and Elon Musk both said they are looking into what’s being called a DOGE dividend, which could result in Americans receiving checks in the mail.
What did Johnson say?
“Politically that would be great for us, you know, it gives everybody a check,” Johnson said at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
“But if you think about our core principles, right, fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives. That’s our brand,” Johnson continued. “And we have a $36 trillion federal debt, we have a giant deficit that we’re contending with. I think we need to pay down the credit card, right?”
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Johnson made the remarks when he was asked how sending out the checks would work. Congress controls the purse strings and would have to give its approval if President Trump determines the plan is feasible.
President Trump explained Wednesday, Feb. 19, how they are considering dividing up the money DOGE saves.
“And 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 because the numbers are incredible, Elon. So many billions of dollars, billions, hundreds of billions,” Trump said Wednesday at the Future Investment Initiative Institute.
How much has DOGE saved?
However, It’s not clear that DOGE is helping the country’s finances as much as they say they are.
DOGE claims to have saved the American taxpayers $55 billion through contract cancellations and renegotiations, asset sales, workforce reductions and other measures.
Analysis shows they are counting the full amounts of some contracts that have already been partially paid for.
In one case, DOGE said it saved the government $8 billion with a canceled contract. Further review revealed it was an $8 million contract and that the contracted company had already received $3.8 million.
DOGE is now releasing more detailed information that shows the differences between the total value of the contract and how much is being saved by canceling. In many cases, the full amount has already been paid and there are no savings.
