• An investment banker floated paying some of DOGE's savings back to taxpayers in the form of checks.
• Elon Musk said he'd "check with" Trump about it.
• Lawmakers on Capitol Hill would need to approve it, and it's facing some skepticism.

What if some of the money saved by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency could be paid back to Americans as checks from the government?

That idea, promoted by investment manager James Fishback, gained significant traction online on Tuesday after Musk said on X that he would "check with" President Donald Trump about it. "Obviously, the President is the Commander-in-Chief, so this is entirely up to him," Musk later added.

After the initial publication of this story, Trump acknowledged the idea at an event in Florida, saying that a "new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens" is now "under consideration."

"I literally had a dream about this," Fishback told BI during a Wednesday phone interview about how he and a colleague at his firm came up with the idea. "Then we woke up and started working on it, and put it on paper over the course of about two and a half hours."

Fishback told BI that he's meeting with a variety of House and Senate offices in Washington, DC this week, and that he's emailed the proposal to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

In any event, the idea still has a long way to go. It would take an act of Congress to enact the proposal, which is already encountering some early skepticism from lawmakers in both parties.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told BI that he believes "sending checks is not the smartest way to spend savings" and that he'd rather use the savings to "drive down the debt."

"I have three grandchildren, all under the age of eight years old," Tillis said. "Their fractional share of the national debt is about $100,000. I think maybe it makes sense to help pay down that debt obligation."

Responding to the proposal on X, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin wrote that he'd be "happy" to entertain the idea "once we balance the budget."

"The first use of that money needs to actually be reducing spending, so we can have a balanced budget, so Americans can keep their hard earned dollars," Johnson told BI. "Not only from a standpoint of not having to pay taxes, but so we don't inflate them away."

Fishback said he welcomes the conversation and agrees that paying down the debt should be a top priority. But he said that the checks would be a crucial way to generate public interest and buy-in to DOGE's goals — and he suggested that public pressure could push potential critics to back his populist proposal.

"I don't see how you can go to a town hall meeting, when you go back to your district, and say you voted against President Trump's DOGE dividend," Fishback said. "You're going to have a lot of questions to answer from a lot of angry, aggrieved taxpayers."

How the 'DOGE Dividend' would work

Under the rosiest version of Fishback's proposal, some Americans would receive a one-time $5,000 check in 2026, paid for the savings generated by DOGE.

There are a couple of caveats.

For one, Fishback's plan is based on an assumption of $2 trillion in savings, the goal that was originally set for DOGE. Musk and Trump have since halved that number, telling Sean Hannity in a Tuesday night interview on Fox News that "the overall goal is to try to get a trillion dollars out of the deficit."

Additionally, the checks — funded by 20% of DOGE's overall savings — would only be sent to net payers of federal income tax, which Fishback estimates to be 79 million households.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who said he generally supports "the principle of taking that money and returning it to the people," said he wants to see those savings put toward a child tax credit.

"That's what I prefer to do," Hawley told BI, pointing to the costs borne by families with multiple children. "We ought to direct relief to them, and this would be a great way to fund it."

Fishback countered that his proposal is "not an economic stimulus package" and is about paying "restitution" to taxpayers whose money has been misused.

"The only criterion that we care about is whether or not you have paid federal income tax. If you have, then you deserve restitution. If you haven't, then you haven't been aggrieved," Fishback said. "The people who get restitution are the people who paid, and did not feel like they got a good value out of it."

Meanwhile, Democrats largely want nothing to do with DOGE, owing to the recent shuttering of federal agencies and mass firing of federal employees.

"It's just a con. It's not about saving money. It's about stealing from people," Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told BI, referring to DOGE broadly. "This is all a pretty simple effort to steal from regular people to enrich the very wealthy."

This story has been updated to reflect Trump's acknowledgment of the idea later on Wednesday.

• Trump administration officials say that more than 20,000 federal workers have accepted buyouts.
• That's still well below the White House's goal of 5 - 10% of federal employees taking the deal.
• One official told BI that they're expecting a "spike" in the numbers before the February 6 deadline.

More than 20,000 federal workers have accepted buyouts, according to two Trump administration officials.

After Axios reported on Tuesday that roughly 20,000 had accepted the offer, a White House spokesman disputed that report, telling BI that the actual figure was higher and that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would provide an update "at the appropriate time."

A spokesperson for OPM told BI that the 20,000 figure "isn't current," though didn't specify when it was from. They said the "number of deferred resignations is rapidly growing, and we're expecting the largest spike to come 24-48 hours before the deadline."

Last week, the Trump administration sent an email to all federal employees offering them full pay and benefits through the end of September 30 if they opted to resign by February 6, two days from now.

The White House has said it expects between 5% and 10% of federal employees to take the deal. With more than 2 million Americans employed by the federal government, that would mean between 100,000 and 200,000 people accepting the buyout.

According to the Partnership for Public Service, more than 100,000 workers voluntarily leave the federal government — whether via retirement or simply by quitting — every year. On average, the nonpartisan nonprofit found an annual attrition rate of 6%, within the range of the White House's buyout goals.

Democrats and labor unions have urged workers against taking the buyout offer, saying that President Donald Trump does not have the authority to make the offer and can't be trusted to follow through. Some federal employees formerly told BI that they're not certain they'd be paid through September if they choose to resign.

"If you accept that offer and resign, he'll stiff you," Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said in a speech on the Senate floor last week, addressing his remarks to federal workers. "Do not be fooled by this guy. You were here before he was here, and you'll be here after he was here."

Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have touted the merits of the deal on X. Musk has floated using severance packages and early retirement offers to shrink the federal workforce since before Trump took office.

The government is also working hard to sell the offer. Between Wednesday night and Thursday, OPM updated its FAQ page and encouraged civil servants to seek jobs in the private sector or, if that doesn't appeal, use the 8 months to "travel to your dream destination."

• Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday.
• Big names in business and tech attended the inauguration and other weekend celebrations.
• Here are the billionaires and CEOs who attended Trump's inaugural ceremony.

Donald Trump was sworn in as president of the United States for the second time on Monday, and key business and tech leaders were there to watch it happen — and to try to get in his good graces.

It's a shift from recent years, when Big Tech leaders and Trump appeared more at odds.

Several of them even sat on the inaugural platform, getting better seats than some of Trump's cabinet appointees.

Tesla's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were among those seated on the inaugural platform. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in contrast, reportedly watched from an overflow room.

Here are the billionaires and CEOs who attended Trump's inauguration.

Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX, and X

Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who spent hundreds of millions helping to elect Trump, attended the inauguration and spoke at an inaugural rally Monday.

Musk has been a frequent visitor to Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, since Trump was reelected.

Trump tapped Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, though Ramaswamy confirmed Monday he's leaving DOGE.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, attended the inauguration ceremony and sat on the platform.

Later on Monday, Zuckerberg posted a photo of himself and Chan dressed for an inauguration event with the caption "Optimistic and celebrating," alongside an American flag emoji.

Meta was one of the first major companies to donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund, and has started 2025 with a slew of changes that appear to be influenced by Trump's politics.

Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November, and was "very keen to play an active role" in the president's tech policymaking, Meta's then-global affairs chief, Nick Clegg, said at the time.

Trump was a vocal critic of Facebook in his first term and last year threatened to jail Zuckerberg if re-elected.

While Zuckerberg didn't endorse a candidate for president in 2024, he said Trump's reaction to being shot at a rally in Pennsylvania last summer was "badass."

Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, reportedly met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December. Amazon also donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

Bezos said at The New York Times' DealBook Summit last month that he was "actually very optimistic" about another Trump term, and would like to help Trump with "reducing regulation"

"What I've seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time and more settled," Bezos said. "You've probably grown in the last eight years. He has, too."

Bezos didn't always feel this way about Trump.

In 2016, he said Trump's desire to lock up Hillary Clinton and his stated refusal to accept a loss in the presidential election that year "erodes our democracy around the edges."

Trump has also criticized Amazon and The Washington Post, which Bezos owns, frequently over the years.

In 2024, for the first time in decades, The Post didn't endorse a presidential candidate. Bezos reportedly intervened to block an endorsement of Kamala Harris.

Bezos later defended the decision, writing in an op-ed that endorsements "create a perception of bias" and "do nothing to tip the scales of an election."

Tim Cook, Apple

Unlike some of his peers, Apple CEO Tim Cook — better known to Trump as "Tim Apple" — made a $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural fund from his own wallet, rather than from his company.

Cook has credited the first Trump administration with helping Apple break into the retail market in India.

Sam Altman, OpenAI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also made a personal donation of $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

Altman has stated that he agrees with some of Trump's views around bureaucratic blockades.

"The thing I really deeply agree with the president on is, it is wild how difficult it has become to build things in the United States," Altman told Bloomberg earlier this month.

He added: "Power plants, data centers, any of that kind of stuff. I understand how bureaucratic cruft builds up, but it's not helpful to the country in general."

Shou Zi Chew, TikTok

Shou Zi Chew, TikTok's CEO, was also spotted in the Capitol Rotunda.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on its challenge against a divest-or-ban law. The platform briefly went dark for US users on Saturday night but resumed its services on Sunday after Trump said he would pause the ban with an executive order.

On Friday, Chew thanked Trump for "his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States."

Sundar Pichai, Google

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was also in attendance Monday.

Google was among the companies that donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

Rupert Murdoch, NewsCorp

Rupert Murdoch, the patriarch of the Fox News empire, was also in attendance.

Bernard Arnault, LVMH

French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, which includes brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior, attended the inauguration.

He was joined by daughter Delphine Arnault, who is CEO of Dior, and son Alexandre Arnault, who will become deputy CEO of LVMH's wines and spirits division, Moët Hennessy, starting in February.

Dana White, UFC

Silicon Valley's growing alignment with the cultural MAGA-verse was also on display Monday.

In attendance at the inauguration was Dana White, president and CEO of UFC, who was recently appointed to the board of Meta, and is a close Trump ally.

White and Meta's Zuckerberg, whose hobbies include MMA fighting, have been spotted together multiple times over the years.

Podcaster Theo Von, one of the internet celebrities Trump used to court young male voters, was at the inauguration, too, representing an ascendant realm of right-wing media.

Joe Rogan, who interviewed Trump on his podcast in late October, also attended.

Miriam Adelson, Las Vegas Sands

Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, was also in attendance.

According to the Associated Press, the longtime GOP megadonor co-hosted a reception for Trump on Monday night alongside Zuckerberg, Tilman Fertitta, Trump's pick for US ambassador to Italy, Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, and Ricketts' wife, Sylvie Légère.

Phil Ruffin, Circus Circus Hotel and Casino

Las Vegas casino magnate Phil Ruffin attended the inauguration with his wife, Oleksandra Nikolayenko.

Trump had served as Ruffin's best man when he married Nikolayenko in 2008.

Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, attended Trump's inauguration along with his wife Nita, a spokesperson for Ambani confirmed to Business Insider.

The couple also attended Trump's pre-inauguration reception in Washington on Saturday.

Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment

Linda McMahon, Trump's nominee for education secretary and the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, was also present at Trump's inauguration.

While not a billionaire in her own right, McMahon gave $15 million to Trump's campaign and is married to Vincent McMahon, the former executive chairman of WWE-owned TKO Group Holdings, valued at $3 billion.

She led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, during Trump's first term in office.

Scott Bessent, Wall Street veteran

Also in attendance was Scott Bessent, Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary.

Bessent founded and runs the macro hedge fund Key Square Group and served as Trump's top economic advisor during the campaign.

If he gets Senate confirmation, Bessent would be the highest-ranking LGBTQ+ official in American history, according to the Associated Press.

Doug Burgum, Arthur Ventures

Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was another attendee at Trump's inauguration.

Burgum, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Interior and "energy czar," co-founded Arthur Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage B2B software businesses and manages $1.1 billion.

Chris Wright, Liberty Energy

Chris Wright, founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oilfield services firm with a $3.7 billion net value, was also present.

Trump has tapped Wright to lead the Department of Energy, but he will continue in his positions until the Senate confirms him, the company said.

Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald

Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, was another attendee at Trump's inauguration.

Lutnick, who has been put forward as the next commerce secretary, has been president and CEO of the financial services firm since 1991.

In recent years, the billionaire banker has become a key advisor to Trump as well as a major fundraiser.

He is cochair of the Trump transition team.

Others congratulated Trump online

Responses from the corporate world also poured in online.

Pichai, Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg were among those congratulating Trump on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

Correction: January 20, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated Jeff Bezos' current position at Amazon. He is the founder and executive chairman, not the CEO.