Oftentimes rumors circulate on the internet about mysterious benefits and checks that will never materialize and only serve to inflame people, but these are usually started by pranksters or rumors that get picked up by the media, rarely by what has been established as a government agency and without Congressional approval. However, this is exactly what happened when DOGE officials announced a check for $5,000 to every household so they could profit from government budget cuts that have been made.
Let us back up a bit, because this idea seems in line with other harebrained conspiracies that have been published before and it does not sound very believable. The idea was floated by both Elon Musk and other new figures in the US political environment that support Trump and his government cuts in favor of “efficiency”. While these cuts did not improve efficiency, if fact they only caused chaos, they did liberate some funds that these Trump supporters stated should go to American households, just like in a private company dividends would be distributed amongst shareholders.
The DOGE $5,000 check, a pipedream that could have never been
While most of these scams are never confirmed by officials, there are plenty of Social Medica posts advertising the new measure and trying to get Americas on board with the idea. After all, it is a small amount of money, about 20% of the savings generated by government cuts according to Azoria CEO James Fishback, that could give many families a huge financial boost in these trying times. But the numbers never matched reality, and the logistics of this operation would never have worked.
As per usual, the main problem starts with the incorrect math. Despite their best efforts to dismantle the government and “improve efficiency” the savings that DOGE has made on the federal budget do not come anywhere near close to a number that would allow $5,000 to be distributed to every American household. It might seem hard to comprehend, but most government budgets are actually not overinflated, they are actually fairly tight, and while there is unnecessary waste and unnecessary expenses, they are not as prevalent as politicians of the opposite side will make you think (ironic considering that Congress and the Senate have some of he most inflated budgets, especially when counting salaries compared to how long they are in session and healthcare costs for politicians).
Getting back to the math, when DOGE was created, they estimated that they would cut $2 trillion in government waste, instead, they have only managed to “save” $170 billion. While it could be an impressive feat if it had been useful, on top of the disarray in many agencies, that would only amount to $430 per eligible household. To make matters worse, the costs associated with DOGE’s administrative failures, such as lawsuits and lost productivity, would have further eroded the supposed savings, leaving a final amount that would not exceed $89 per household.
Furthermore, there is no law or structured plan backing the DOGE check, and the measure was never able to pass Congress. Most legislators even avoided addressing the topic publicly, indicating that it was never treated as a serious agenda item and even within the current administration which had promoted it early on, enthusiasm for the proposal quickly faded.
The DOGE Caucus, initially formed by a few supporters of the idea, has since collapsed, with no meaningful actions taken and no engagement with relevant stakeholders. While a few Republican figures continue to claim the proposal is still active, the absence of legislative activity and substantive debate suggests otherwise and the overall lack of commitment from lawmakers points to the initiative being more about public optics than actual policy.