Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

Elon Musk wants the government to shut down so it's easier for his DOGE team to get ax hundreds of thousands of federal workers, according to a new report. WIRED cited four anonymous government sources for the story that comes as the House is set to vote on a spending bill in order to prevent a shutdown.

To give $5,000 stimulus checks to citizens, DOGE must first meet its $2 trillion savings goal, which would make the idea affordable, the Columbus Dispatch reports. In a January interview with political strategist Mark Penn, Musk said DOGE had a better chance of cutting $1 trillion instead, according to USA TODAY.

A new proposal from the Department of Efficiency Governmental (DOGE) suggests issuing $5,000 stimulus checks to Americans, funded by significant federal savings.

James Fishback argues that 20 percent of DOGE's total savings, around $400 billion, could be returned to households that pay tax.