On Wednesday, the president voiced his support for mailing stimulus checks to households, each receiving a portion of the $1 trillion target the Tesla CEO is tasked with saving.

It comes amid growing controversies out of DOGE, with Republican lawmakers on the Hill reportedly confiding to constituents privately their concerns over the reckless methods employed by DOGE administrator Musk. 

Yet mailing checks to voters would be a slam dunk for popularity, and Musk himself has already supported it, coining it a “dividend” for the public.

The president added that the savings could also be used to pay down the national debt, an issue that has slowly crept up the economic agenda in the past year.

“The numbers are incredible,” Trump said on Wednesday at the FII Institute. “So many billions—hundreds of billions—and we’re thinking about giving 20% back to the American citizens and 20% to pay down debt.” 

Unlike the COVID stimulus checks, the move wouldn’t increase Uncle Sam’s debt as it would be financed through a portion of overall savings rather than new borrowing. 

Yet there’s still a lot of work to be done to reach the figures Trump is claiming. According to its latest information, DOGE estimates it’s saved $55 billion, and some of the lowest-hanging fruit—politically speaking—has been harvested.

The biggest savings have come primarily from eliminating programs and staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Department of Education, all cuts that are easy sells to Trump’s Republican base.

Move fast and delete things

However, problems have sprung up regarding Musk’s methods, which have served him well in the past.

Extremely lean organizations and models are a key principle of his management style—he even eliminated the indicator stalk on his Tesla Model 3 sedan to reduce costs, only to find that customers found a turning button on the steering wheel less intuitive. 

These methods can work in the private sector: If it all backfires, shareholders bear the consequences first and foremost.

However, the stakes are higher if it means critical government services cannot be delivered to American taxpayers. 

Jesse Watters says he has a friend who is a veteran who is afraid they are going to fired because they are probationary employee at the Pentagon: Veterans should get priority. Because if you're going to go out there and kill enemies, put your life on the line, you should not be… pic.twitter.com/pIiPAHhTcM

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 19, 2025

Support for Musk and DOGE is waning

As a result, a joint poll conducted by YouGov and The Economist published on Wednesday found that DOGE ironically topped the list of all federal departments and agencies that Americans would like to see eliminated entirely. 

Thanks in part to a leadership vacuum in the Democratic Party, Trump advisor Musk initially received little pushback against his more radical efforts to reshape government agencies. 

Yet a recent attempt to gain unfettered access to Americans’ sensitive personal information held at the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration has raised eyebrows among voters and politicians alike.

A Quinnipiac poll published on Wednesday found that 55% of voters believe Musk has too much power in making decisions that affect the United States, while only 3% believe he has too little. 

Maybe the promise of free money courtesy of Musk’s DOGE will change their minds.