The Department of Government Efficiency, also referred to as DOGE, only came into existence last month when Trump added it to his administration in January, and effectively put Elon Musk as its head.
DOGE has reportedly cut $55 billion in annual government spending since its creation, and if Trump follows through with the suggestion on what to do with the money, the US taxpayer could be getting a hefty sum.
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The point behind creating DOGE
Although the name may sound it, DOGE is actually not an official government department as it was not established by an act of Congress, according to BBC.
Instead, it was created under an executive order from Trump to dismantle the “tyranny of the bureaucracy”, as described by Musk. In simple terms, it aims to cut annual government expenditure.
How much DOGE has cut so far
So far and since its creation, DOGE has reportedly cut $55 billion in annual government expenditure. Although this sum hasn’t been confirmed by another entity.
According to the DOGE website, this money comes from “a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.”
Actions taken by DOGE to save this sum
As reported by the BBC, some of the actions taken by DOGE to rack up this sum include the termination of DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] contracts and cutting a large part of USAID funds, which is the main foreign aid organization in America, among other things.
DOGE has also made a buyout offer to two million government employees as part of the plan to restructure the Federal workforce.
Musk may have set himself a goal
In a recent post by DOGE on X/Twitter, it said that it had “terminated 18 grants for $226mm to Comprehensive Centers, which provided consulting services with a large focus on DEI.” This has likely contributed to the $55 billion figure.
Some believe that Musk has set himself the goal of saving $1 trillion in annual government spending.
Trump’s views on actions taken by DOGE
Trump seems impressed with the sum saved by DOGE, saying on 19 February, “The numbers are incredible, Elon, so many billions — hundreds of billions.” He didn’t, however, give an exact figure or back up the one claimed by DOGE.
What Trump plans to do with the dividends
Trump suggested what might be done with the dividends, saying, “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.”
How much the American taxpayer could receive
It’s said that Musk proposed the idea of giving every American taxpayer $5,000.
According to Forbes, the proposal was first put forward by James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria and who has been acting as an outsider advisor for DOGE.
Fishback tweeted about the ‘DOGE Dividend’
Fishback tweeted the idea earlier this week, dubbing it the ‘DOGE Dividend’. He said: “American taxpayers deserve a ‘Doge Dividend’: 20 per cent of the money that Doge saves should be sent back to hard-working Americans as a tax refund check.”
“It was their money in the first place! At $2 trillion in Doge savings and 78 million tax-paying households, this is a $5,000 refund per household, with the remaining used to pay down the national debt.”
This might come into effect next summer
The payout might come next summer, as part of the proposal shared on social media said that “79 million American households will receive a $5,000 check next summer because of President Trump’s bold leadership.”
