Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Jason Husser spoke with WFMY about proposals to pay women to have children and pay Americans based on savings from the Department of Government Efficiency.
Jason Husser, professor of political science and public policy, recently spoke with WFMY New 2 in Greensboro, North Carolina, about payouts from the federal government connected to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Trump Administration’s idea to pay women to have children.
DOGE payouts
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said he was considering sending taxpayers checks from savings generated by DOGE.
WFMY cites one proposal from Elon Musk that would equal $5000 checks per person, based on early projections that the program could save up to $2 trillion by the time it ends on July 4, 2026. According to WFMY, new figures show that DOGE has saved $160 billion to date—less than 10% of that initial estimate.
In another speech on Feb. 20, according to WFMY, President Trump said they were considering giving 20% of DOGE savings back to Americans and use 20% to pay down the national debt. WFMY estimates this would equal about $199 per person.
Husser cautions that any payments would need to be approved by Congress.
“I would not go out and buy a boat or any other type of unnecessary expense based upon the promise of a future check,” Husser said. “Because there’s a number of steps that will have to happen.”
Baby bonus
Husser also spoke with WFMY about the federal government potentially paying women $5000 for each child they have, an effort to address America’s declining birthrate.
WFMY notes this is one of several options the government is considering to address the issue and Husser told WFMY it could receive bipartisan support.
“A number of countries around the world do take a lot of efforts to try to subsidize child rearing,” Husser said. “In South Korea… people are worried as the nation as a whole is going to be able to survive with such a rapidly declining population. There’s certainly a movement within the Republican Party, but this spans party lines to some extent to try to support people with children.”