Treasury secretary backs Trump’s $5,000 checks but refuses to say how the country will pay for it
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has backed the $5,000 checks Donald Trump wants to give Americans after the midterm elections, but has refused to say how the country would pay for them.
During the Republican convention held in Dallas last week to get out the vote for GOP candidates in the midterms, the president promised that his administration would pay a “Trump Dividend” to each American adult if voters help Republicans keep control of Congress.
“So if the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump said in his keynote speech Wednesday.
The idea sparked backlash, with critics accusing the president of bribery and others questioning where the money would come from. And Bessent did little to quell skeptics' concerns during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday.
When asked by Representative Juan Vargas, a California Democrat, if the $5,000 checks would increase the nation‘s $40 trillion debt, Bessent said, “I believe there are ways to do it without increasing the debt.”
Vargas then asked Bessent to elaborate, but Bessent just said the Treasury Department is in the process of figuring out how to pay for the checks without increasing the national debt.
“I’m not ready to discuss it at present, but at Treasury we’ve been working on it for quite a while,” Bessent said.
The Independent has reached out to the Treasury Department for comment.
Trump quickly said after he first announced the $5,000 checks that he didn’t think he needed approval from Congress, known for having the power of the purse.
“I think they will do it if we needed it, but we think not,” Trump told CBS News.
When asked about the “Trump Dividend” on Meet the Press Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he’d “work with the president hand in hand” on the matter but did not commit to being able to deliver on the checks.
The Independent’s Eric Garcia asked Johnson at a press conference Tuesday, “How is communism any different from what President Trump is doing getting equity stakes in tech and promising $5,000 checks to Americans and having equity in steel?”
Johnson and other Republicans have baselessly accused the Democratic Party of embracing communist candidates in the midterms.
Johnson sidestepped Garcia’s question, telling reporters that the president “comes up with creative ideas all the time” and that Republicans in Congress are "processing" the “Trump Dividend” proposal.
“What he is trying to articulate…if you want more money in your pockets, you gotta keep Republicans in charge,” Johnson said. “We have done that.”
But a majority of Americans don’t think Trump is doing a good job on the economy as they struggle to pay for everyday necessities like groceries and gas, partly due to the president’s war in Iran driving up energy costs.
Just 34 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the economy, compared to 66 percent who disapprove, according to a new CBS News poll.
