House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is hesitant to fully endorse sending Americans checks containing savings from cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency.

Johnson was asked during an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington to explain how “DOGE stimulus checks” could work. President Donald Trump had said his administration was weighing sending 20% of savings by DOGE to taxpayers, while directing another 20% toward combating the national debt.

“Well, look, I mean, politically, that would be great for us,” Johnson said Thursday. “But if you think about our core principles, right? Fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives.

“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.”

The idea of the checks appeared to be born out of a social media exchange between DOGE head Elon Musk and James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria. Fishback posted to X Tuesday the outline of a plan to distribute checks worth more than $5,000 to taxpayers next year using money DOGE helped save the federal government.

The CEO referred to the concept as a “DOGE dividend” in the outline.

“Will check with the President,” Musk replied to the post.

A section in Fishback’s outline is titled “Question 2: ‘Won’t the DOGE Dividend increase the deficit?’ ” An included answer reads, “No, for two reasons.”

The first reason, Fishback wrote, is that the “DOGE dividend” is “contingent on spending cuts,” making it a “tax refund.”

Meanwhile, the second reason is the dividend could “actually drive up tax receipts by increasing tax morale and restoring trust between taxpayers and their government,” the outline says.

However, some economists have urged caution. Jessica Reidl, an economic policy expert with right-leaning think tank Manhattan Institute, told CBS MoneyWatch it is “completely impossible for DOGE to save $2 trillion,” which Musk previously said his advisory committee was aiming for.

“Saving $2 trillion would require eliminating nearly every remaining federal program,” Reidl said. “DOGE has no legal or constitutional authority to cut this spending; Congress must pass a law and that will not happen.”

DOGE reported on its website Monday that it has saved the federal government an estimated $55 billion. The savings, according to the committee, spanned several areas, including “fraud detection/deletion,” “contract/lease cancellations” and “workforce reductions.”

Have a news tip? Contact Kristina Watrobski at kwatrobski@sbgtv.com or at x.com/kbwatrobski.