• Speaker of the House Mike Johnson tamped down the idea of DOGE stimulus checks, adding he would rather pay off national debt.
• Investment firm CEO James Fishback proposed the idea of stimulus checks sparked by DOGE actions earlier this week.
• President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he supported stimulus checks funded with 20% of DOGE's claimed savings.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson does not appear to be in favor of stimulus checks spurred by DOGE actions.

During the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, the Louisiana Republican rolled his eyes when the idea of stimulus checks prompted by the Department of Government Efficiency, "DOGE," was met with applause from the audience on Thursday.

"Politically, that would be great for us, you know, because everybody gets a check," Johnson said to the crowd. "But if you think about our core principles, right, fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives. That's our brand 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?"

President Donald Trump expressed interest in the stimulus checks earlier this week. The president said during the Saudi-sponsored FII PRIORITY Summit on Wednesday that the federal government was considering using 20% of DOGE savings to create stimulus checks and another 20% to pay down national debt., which, as of Friday, sat at $36.2 trillion.

Trump's support came the same day as USA TODAY reporting found the DOGE website published misleading information about how much money it has saved, including a nearly $8 billion error.

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DOGE's documented contracts, grants and real estate licenses on the website amounted to about $16.5 billion, falling well short of the $55 billion it said it saved. This figured was inflated due to the inclusion of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract that DOGE said was worth $8 billion, when it was actually only worth $8 million.

In need of some background information? Here's what to know about the proposed DOGE stimulus checks.

How did talks of a DOGE stimulus check come about?

The concept of a stimulus check sent to Americans from the claimed savings of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency grew earlier this week.

Azoria investment firm CEO James Fishback announced toX on Tuesday that he had lobbied for a "DOGE Dividend" − stimulus checks created with 20% of DOGE's savings.

In response to Fishback's post, Musk wrote, "Will check with the President."

Will there be a DOGE stimulus check?

The federal government has not confirmed plans to issue a DOGE-related stimulus check.

What is DOGE?

The Department of Government Efficiency, officially the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, is a federal government advisory department tasked with finding ways to cut spending and regulations. Trump signed an executive order to create DOGE on his first day of office.

Trump later made Musk a "special government employee," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed. Musk may work for the government with or without compensation for a limited amount of time. He also has a government email and an office.

DOGE has made drastic cuts across several federal agencies, including at the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Since its establishment, DOGE has been met with opposition, specifically by Democratic lawmakers and government watchdog groups who believe Musk is breaching privacy and security laws.

On Monday, a lawsuit filed in a Washington, D.C. federal court said that the Department of Treasury had violated privacy laws by giving Musk and DOGE access to government payment systems.

“We are outraged and alarmed that the Trump Administration has allowed so-called DOGE staff to violate the law and access millions of older Americans’ sensitive personal and financial data,” Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said in a press release.

Contributing: Maria Francis and Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].