Johnson Criticizes Trump and Musk’s Proposal for Dividends

Louisiana Representative and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has found himself at odds with President Trump and close ally Elon Musk, over a popular but controversial plan.

How Much Has DOGE Saved

The President has granted Elon Musk special authority to carry out an audit of the federal government's spending, cutting back on wasteful or fraudulent spending when found. So far the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reported they've cut $55 billion in federal spending, though it is important to mention that inconsistencies have been reported in DOGE's final number by outside sources.

Elon Musk first publicly flirted with the idea of returning the money saved by his audit efforts directly to the American people, and it would only be a few days after discussing the idea on Twitter the President would repeat the same notion.

President Trump told the public that he and his administration were "Thinking about giving 20% back to the American Citizens and 20% back to pay down debt."

Mike Johnson Speaks Out Against Dividends

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was at the Conservative Political Action Conference this Thursday and gave his thoughts on Elon and the President's suggested dividend payment, "I mean, politically that would be great for us, you know, it gives everybody a check."

Johnson explains that the idea of the government using funds on hand to hand out a $5,000 check to every American is against the core principle of conservatism, "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?"