'We are not in the business of giving out money': Rep Jasmine Crockett opposes 'DOGE dividends' after backing reparations for black Americans

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) spoke out against the Trump administration potentially giving Americans DOGE dividend checks, saying the federal government "is not in the business of giving out money." She made the claim despite her previous support for taxpayer-funded reparations for black Americans. The $5,000 dividend payments would be similar to a "tax refund check" and the funds would come from DOGE's cost-cutting wasteful government spending efforts.

Speaking to ABC News on Thursday, Crockett asserted that she would not support the refunds.

"President Trump says he likes the idea of giving some of the savings from DOGE back to Americans as kind of a dividend. Would you support that?" the host asked.

Crockett responded, "No. We are not in the business of giving out money, and honestly, I don't know what $5,000 will do for you."

The congresswoman vehemently rejected the idea despite suggesting in April 2024 that black Americans should be exempt from paying taxes for a certain amount of time as a form of reparations.

"To think that America doesn't owe the descendants of slaves is an error," she said at the time.

On Wednesday, President Trump discussed the dividend checks at an investment conference in Miami, telling reporters that "a new concept where we give 20 percent of the DOGE savings to American citizens" is "under consideration." The president explained, according to Forbes, that his administration is "thinking about giving 20 percent back to the American citizens and 20 percent back to pay down debt."

The DOGE payouts were first pitched by James Fishback, the CEO of the investment firm Azoria. He drafted a four-page proposal that proposed the distribution of a "tax refund check" to all American taxpayer households following the July 2026 end date that DOGE had announced.