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President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is considering a plan to send 20 percent of savings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to American taxpayers.
Trump shared the idea during an event in Miami Beach, Florida, with reporters.
“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,” Trump said.
The concept follows an online discussion on X in which DOGE leader Elon Musk said he would “check with the president” on the idea of $5,000 payouts to taxpayers from savings on a “DOGE dividend.”
The newly established DOGE effort has already led to announcements of large reductions in budgets across multiple federal agencies. The short-term effort is set to expire on July 4, 2026.
Trump shared a post from the Department of Government (DOGE) X account on Sunday, revealing hundreds of millions of dollars saved for taxpayers.
The list noted the cancellation of planned taxpayer funds to a long list of international projects that will no longer receive funding.
The list opened with “$10M for ‘Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision,’” among the many questionable items.
Another included $486 million in taxpayer funding to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” which included $22 million for “inclusive and participatory process” in Moldova and $21 million for voter turnout in India.
A third example cited on DOGE’s list was $9.7 million for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills” followed by $2.3 million for “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia.”
Musk previously announced that the organization would reduce the current federal deficit by $1 trillion by 2026, cutting an average of $4 billion dollars daily. He added that if these numbers were successfully met, there would be “no inflation in 2026.”
DOGE has supposedly already eliminated one billion dollars through the elimination of 104 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) contracts, according to Fox News.
In a Feb. 11 executive order, Trump assigned DOGE power to implement a workforce optimization initiative as part of eliminating government waste. The stated goal is, “To restore accountability to the American public, this order commences a critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy. By eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity, my Administration will empower American families, workers, taxpayers, and our system of Government itself.”
