DOGE stimulus check creator came up with plan in a dream

The concept of distributing stimulus checks from government savings might sound like a vision from a dream—and for James Fishback, the 30-year-old investment firm CEO behind the “DOGE Dividend” proposal, that’s exactly what it was.

Fishback told Newsweek the idea for a stimulus check funded by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) savings emerged during his sleep.

“It came to me in a dream,” he said. “I woke up and called our Head of Research at Azoria, and we drafted the proposal during a two-hour lunch at Capital Grille.”

Why It Matters

The stimulus check proposal seeks to leverage efficiencies identified by Elon Musk’s DOGE. In theory, the proposal would return a portion of the savings—estimated at $5,000 per tax-paying household—to American citizens.

What To Know

Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria, envisions the “DOGE Dividend” as a dual-purpose tool that compensates taxpayers for government waste but also encourages public reporting of inefficiencies, potentially increasing federal savings and the resultant dividends.

The plan proposes using 20 percent of DOGE’s total savings to fund these payments, which, according to Fishback’s proposal document, would “restore public trust between taxpayers and their government.”

DOGE purports to have saved an estimated $55 billion so far, though this number has been hotly debated. Reporting from ABC News and Bloomberg has confirmed only about $8.6 billion in savings to date.

While Musk and President Donald Trump have shown interest—with Trump saying at a summit on Wednesday that the idea was “under consideration”—the DOGE check proposal has not been universally welcomed.

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson voiced concerns on Thursday about fiscal prudence given the U.S.’s $36 trillion federal debt.

“Politically that would be great for us, you know, you can send everybody a check,” Johnson said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). “But if you think about our core principles, right, fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives, that’s our brand.”

Read more: DOGE Stimulus Check Creator Defends Plan Against Inflation Fears

What People Are Saying

James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria and creator of the DOGE Dividend proposal, told Newsweek: “We wanted to develop a framework for the President to (1) compensate taxpayers the egregious waste, fraud, and abuse of their money that DOGE has covered and (2) incentivize them to report waste, fraud, and abuse in their community so DOGE can save even more and as a result deliver an even bigger DOGE Dividend check to hard-working Americans.”

Elon Musk said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday: “It’s money that’s taken away from things that are destructive to the country and from organizations that hate you, to you. That’s awesome… the spoils of battle.”

“I talked to the president and he’s supportive of that… it sounds like, you know, that’s something we’re gonna do.”

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said at the CPAC Thursday: “… 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? That’s what I think we need to do.”

Kimberly Clausing, economist and professor at the UCLA School of Law, previously told Newsweek: “Right now this dividend is pure fantasy, as they’ve shown very little in the way of concrete budget savings. While their government layoffs will cause a lot of mayhem in terms of the provision of government services in areas like forest management, public safety, and tax filing, they will not make an important dent in the budget deficit, for the simple reason that personnel costs are a tiny fraction of the US federal budget.”

What Happens Next

As the debate heats up, the “DOGE Dividend” stands at a crossroads. Given that the plan requires congressional approval, its future remains uncertain.