After President Donald Trump suggested American taxpayers could receive a $5,000 check if Republicans retain control of Congress, economists are criticizing the offer while some officials are even questioning its legality.
The president made the comments during a speech Wednesday at a Republican convention in Dallas. The Republican Party is facing a tough fight to maintain control of both chambers of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, and while some dismissed the offer as a stunt, there are also numerous criticisms being lodged against the proposal from a legal and fiscal perspective.
Some experts have raised concerns that such an offer would amount to “buying votes,” though others have pushed back arguing that the checks would be legal because they would go to any American taxpayer regardless of how they voted in the November election.
Regardless, Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget points out that such a check would have to be authorized by Congress, and that Trump would not have the authority to unilaterally order the checks to be issued.
“The president doesn’t have the authority to just cut people a $5,000 check. That law would need to authorize essentially $1.2 trillion being added to the deficit,” he said.
Goldwein was quick to point out the U.S. government is already running a $2 trillion deficit, and that dividends are only given out if a company is operating at a profit.
“It’s an election scam in a sense. This is not something we can afford,” he said. “It’s not something that has any coherence to it. It’s an effort to pick people off in order to get through the election.”
The $5,000 offer isn’t the first time Trump has pledged to send money directly to Americans. Trump famously pledged to use savings from the Department of Government Efficiency and revenue from his administration’s tariffs on foreign imports to distribute payments of at least $2,000 or more, but no checks have been sent out in either situation.
Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank, blasted the proposal as an inflationary nightmare, and that the checks would repeat the cycle of inflation that occurred after President Joe Biden’s administration provided $1,400 payments to Americans as part of a 2021 COVID-19 relief package.
“But Mr. Trump’s proposal would be worse than the Biden stimulus in the sense that in 2026 the economy already has an inflation problem,” Strain told the Associated Press, while Biden’s policy was intended to shore up an economy disrupted by COVID-19. “Trump would be pouring gasoline on lit inflationary embers and hoping it wouldn’t ignite.”
While a handful of Congressional Republicans have expressed support for the idea, others have dismissed it as impractical.
“I don’t know about you all, but frankly I’m insulted by the notion that my vote this November could be bought for 5k,” Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who is one of Trump’s least favorite lawmakers, wrote on social media. “Not to mention the inflation this would cause.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also blasted the idea.
“Donald Trump and Republicans are so desperate that they are resorting to bribes for votes. Our democracy is not for sale,” he said.
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