The Dictatorship
DOGE promised to send Americans $5,000. What happened?
If you got to this article by searching for “DOGE check,” “DOGE dividend check” or “DOGE stimulus check,” I have some bad news: Your check is not in the mail.
Each week, Americans take to the internet to search some variation of the words DOGE, stimulus, dividend, refund and payment to learn when they might get their share of the money supposedly saved by the Department of Government Efficiency as it has slashed and burned through Washington.
For several weeks, more people searched for “DOGE checks” than “tax refunds,” which is a huge search term every year. (It’s also led to a flood of news stories from outlets that write about trending topics, which only raises awareness and leads to even more internet searches.)
DOGE checks are not going to happen.
So let me be clear: as things look now in Washington, DOGE checks are not going to happen.
Instead, the DOGE checks are set to turn out the same way as Trump’s failed promises to build a massive border wall with Mexicorepeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and end the Russia-Ukraine war on the first day of his second term. But as the online searches indicate, this failure will likely haunt Trump more intensely because the disappointment will be more personal.
The idea began, appropriately enough, on the internet. James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria, said he had a dream about sending Americans checks for their share of the money saved by DOGE spending cuts. After some quick back-of-the-envelope math, he posted on X in mid-February that Trump should send each American household a “DOGE Dividend” check worth 20% of the savings, or what he estimated would be $5,000 apiece.
Billionaire federal contractor Elon Musk replied “will check with the president,” and Trump called it a “great idea” the following day in impromptu remarks on Air Force One.
“I love it,” Trump said. “A 20% dividend, so to speak, for the money that we’re saving by going after the waste and fraud and abuse and all of the other things that are happening.”
The president recognizes a clever idea when he hears it. If he actually sent voters a sizable check, it would likely boost him in the polls.
Also recognizing the idea’s potential are campaign marketers and other spammers. In the last week alone, I have received 14 emails from different Republican campaigns, with subject lines such as “DOGE CHECK: PENDING!!” and “5K Check for you???” and “YOU SAID NO TO DOGE CHECK!” There’s also a phishing email circulating that touts “DOGE compensation to fraud victims.” (You have to marvel at the diabolical ingenuity of that one.)
But almost everything that’s happened since mid-February has cast doubt on the supposed DOGE checks.
First, despite the damage that DOGE has done to federal programs, it claims to have only saved $170 billionfar short of the $2 trillion goal Musk set before the November election. (Even those numbers are suspect, given the group’s previous accounting errorsbut we’ll be generous and use them.) Using Fishback’s math, that would amount to a much smaller $430 check per taxpaying household. And while DOGE claims a much higher $1,055 per taxpayer, the proposal was for 20% of savings to go only to the roughly 60% of households that pay income tax, which also means many lower-income Americans wouldn’t get a check.
But wait, there’s less. The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that focuses on the federal workforce, estimates that paid leave, mistaken firings, multiple lawsuits and lost productivity from DOGE’s activities mean it also cost taxpayers $135 billion. That would put the DOGE dividend at about $35 billion in net savings, or about $89 per household.
That seems like a paltry sum for less efficient federal agencieslost government datashuttered local librariesneglected national parksdeteriorated veterans careless research on cancer and Alzheimer’s diseasemore Third World children born with HIVworse weather forecasts and poorer disaster relief — to name just a few effects of DOGE cuts.
Of course, Congress could just decide to send every taxpaying household a $5,000 check anyway, but that would be another $400 billion lawmakers would need to find in their next budget. That’s a tall order considering that Trump also promised no more taxes on tips or overtimean extension of his 2017 tax cuts and a repeal of the cap on the state and local tax deduction while not cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaidand spending $1 trillion on the military.And while congressional campaigns are hyping DOGE checks in fundraising emails, there’s a telltale sign that the members themselves aren’t serious about them.
Political science professor Lindsey Cormack maintains a public database of every official email newsletter sent out by a member of Congress. The number of times a lawmaker mentioned “DOGE checks” or “DOGE Dividends” in an official email to constituents this year: zero. If they were serious about sending them out, they’d have begun talking them up long ago.
The DOGE checks aren’t coming. In all likelihood, they never were.
Ryan Teague Beckwith is a newsletter editor for BLN. He has previously worked for such outlets as Time magazine and Bloomberg News. He teaches journalism at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies and is the creator of Your First Byline.
In an explosive interview with NBC aired Sunday, President Donald Trump cut the grilling short and left the set after peppering “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker with insults.
“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump told Welker, who kept a cool demeanor despite the president’s barrage of disparaging slurs.
Moments before he attacked her, Trump — without providing any evidence — said he believes elections in the U.S. are rigged. Then he lambasted television news networks, singling out NBC, CBS and ABC.
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker shot back. “But let’s continue.”
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” the president told Welker, who is the second woman and first Black journalist to helm the network’s flagship program.
Trump added, “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
It was not the first time Trump has berated a female journalist on the job covering his presidency.
In November 2025, he told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey to stop talking, saying, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” One month later, he told ABC’s Rachel Scott she was “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place.” Last month, he called MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for pointing out that the cost of his White House ballroom project had doubled since it was first announced.
He has also repeatedly lashed out at CNN’s Kaitlan Collinscriticizing her for not smiling enough.
The wide-ranging interview, which was taped last week on a farm in Wisconsin, was interrupted by the loud sound of heavy rain on the metal roof of the barn where they met. Welker questioned Trump on his war with Iran, his “anti-weaponization” fund and the upcoming midterm elections.
On his nearly $1.8 billion fund aimed at compensating people who say they were wrongly prosecuted, including Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Trump said “people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated.”
He described the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as people who were “being ushered into the building” by law enforcement.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the fund last month and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week the administration would not be moving forward with the fundwhich faced bipartisan backlash.
When asked if the administration would pursue other avenues to revive it, Trump said he does not know what will ultimately happen and called Welker and her network “the fake dirty press.”
Despite campaigning on a promise to end foreign wars, Trump denied that he made such statements. He characterized the Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, as necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
When asked about the rising cost of living as a result of the war, specifically gas and fertilizer, Trump chastised Welker.
“Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions and you don’t listen to the answers,” he said.
“I love the farmers and the farmers love me,” Trump said, adding that prices will come down after the war.
Welker suggested to her viewers Sunday that she and the president had a cordial conversation Saturday, saying they both “acknowledged the complications” posed by the rain. “He agreed to sit down with me for another ‘Meet the Press’ interview,” she said.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Iran said visas were denied to key members of its national soccer team ahead of the World Cupwhich a U.S. official insisted was necessary so that Iran does not try to “sneak terrorists into the United States.”
In a post on Xthe Iranian embassy in Turkey said “visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others” on its team.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy said, accusing the U.S. of the “worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport” and “depriving Iran’s national team of its right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions.”
Iranian officials are accusing the U.S. government of violating FIFA regulations and breaching its obligations as one of the host countries of what is widely regarded to be the biggest sporting event in the world. The diplomatic standoff between the two countries comes just days before the World Cup is set to kick off and more than three months after the U.S. and Israel waged war against Iran.
A Trump administration official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the subject told MS NOW in a statement that the visas “necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.”
The official added, however, “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.”
The statement from the Iranian Embassy in Turkey came in response to a post on X by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack praising embassy staff for processing visas for the Iranian national team.
According to The Associated Presssome of the team’s officials have not received visas to enter the U.S., which is co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico and Canada. Games are set to begin Thursday.
Problems with getting U.S. visas had already led Iran to move its World Cup training base from the U.S. to Mexico. But Iran is still listed on the official World Cup schedule to play its first two games in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and against Belgium six days later before heading to Seattle to face Egypt.
The Iran Football Federation’s secretary-general and its vice president were among 14 staff and officials without U.S. visas, AP said, citing Iranian state television. The federation reportedly accused the U.S. of “vindictive behavior.”
Emily Hung contributed to this report.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
A shooting near a community festival in Toledo, Ohio, wounded at least 12 people, and police said a search for the suspects was ongoing following an outbreak of gunfire that sent crowds scrambling for cover.
Two of the wounded were in critical condition, Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan said. He said it appeared there were at least two people firing weapons who were “probably shooting at each other.”
The Toledo Police Department said the shooting happened near the Old West End Festival, an annual gathering of live music and home tours in a historic district of the city.
The department said an active search was underway for those responsible.
“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo tonight. Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement.
Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running over the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to others who appeared wounded.
Kevin Berry said he was sitting in the neighborhood arboretum listening to live music with his friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out.
“Everybody hit the deck,” he said.
When he looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet (15 meters) away from him. Police officers who were already on-site for the festival immediately responded to the scene.
Berry, who has medical training and served in the U.S. Navy, said he walked around the area looking for potential victims who might need help.
He said he saw at least five people with gunshot wounds.
“The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” he said.
The Old West End Festival is a two-day celebration in Toledo’s historic district that includes live music, food vendors, home tours and shopping.
Berry described it as the “kick-off to Toledo’s summer festival season.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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