CINCINNATI — You may have heard President Trump or Elon Musk mention or post on social media about a DOGE dividend or stimulus check for taxpayers, from the money the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) finds in the coming months.
To most taxpayers, talk of a stimulus check immediately brings back memories of the pandemic stimulus checks from four years ago.
Almost all of us remember how helpful the checks were when the government sent out three rounds of $1,400 checks back in 2021. Some families received much more, depending on income and the number of children in their household.
Kenji Cummings said they could really help consumers again.
"If there's extra money, why not?" he said while loading up his car with groceries. "Why not bump the economy a little bit, get more money back into people's pickets — especially right now with how expensive everything is."
So could they come back this year? Possibly. But don't start making plans to redo your kitchen just yet.
We're breaking down whether talks of these checks will become a reality here:
What is the chance of this really happening?
The talk started when Trump and Musk mused about taking 20% of the savings DOGE is making in federal spending and giving it back to taxpayers.
An analysis by USA Today says if DOGE meets its goal of saving $2 trillion from spending, that could mean as much as a $5,000 dividend per family. The remaining 80% of DOGE cuts would go to pay down the national debt.
However, Congress would have to approve the checks, as they did back in 2020 and 2021.
But while we would all like an extra thousand dollars in our pocket next time we need a car or home improvement project, several shoppers we spoke with were not sure they like the idea.
Inflation concerns could doom the plan
Shopper India Pryor recalled that stimulus checks were blamed for part of the spike in inflation the past few years, especially combined with supply chain shortages.
She told us she worries new checks could lead to more consumer demand and more inflation as a result.
"I'm not too fond of it because the last stimulus checks we got it made everything else around us go up and increase," she said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he is not in favor of the DOGE dividend at this point, because he feels paying down the national debt is much more critical, according to a report in The Hill.
Beware stimulus scams
Whatever the president and Congress decide to do, scammers are already trying to cash in, with social media ads and spam text messages about new "Trump Stimulus Checks." However, these are phony posts trying to get personal information.
So don't reply to any ads, texts or emails about possible DOGE stimulus checks: none are in the works just yet.
That way you don't waste your money.
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