{"id":78972,"date":"2026-09-21T11:54:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/21\/dem-lawmakers-scoff-at-trumps-5k-fantasy-land-promise-aint-happening\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T11:54:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:54:51","slug":"dem-lawmakers-scoff-at-trumps-5k-fantasy-land-promise-aint-happening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/21\/dem-lawmakers-scoff-at-trumps-5k-fantasy-land-promise-aint-happening\/","title":{"rendered":"Dem lawmakers scoff at Trump’s $5K ‘fantasy land’ promise: ‘Ain’t happening’"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> promise of a hefty payout for all Americans if Republicans win big in the midterm elections is taking heat from Democratic lawmakers who blast the vow as a “hysterical” lie and unlawful bribe.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s hysterical,” Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., said about the promise. “Literally, I think, it’s insane. It’s effectively a proposed bribe of the American people that we can’t afford.”<\/p>\n

“This is just fantasy land, right?” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital. “$5,000 checks, plus, you know, puppies and rainbows and ponies.”<\/p>\n

VOTERS HAVE A BLUNT MESSAGE FOR TRUMP ABOUT HIS IDEA TO DOLE OUT $5,000 CHECKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

He continued, “The president will make any promises he can.”<\/p>\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., waved off Fox News Digital when asked about the checks, declining to comment.<\/p>\n

Trump pledged to issue the $5,000 dividend during his speech at the Republican National Committee\u2019s midterm convention in Dallas<\/a> earlier this month \u2014 as long as the GOP wins to keep control of both the Senate and the House in November.<\/p>\n

“$5,000 to gain a majority?” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., said. “He already has the Senate and the House and the White House, and it’s been an unmitigated disaster.”<\/p>\n

“It’s just a campaign promise that he’s trying to make to the American public, because he knows he’s underwater, and he’s not doing well and people are angry,” Aguilar said.<\/p>\n

Most Democrats who spoke with Fox News Digital about the payments waved off the president\u2019s $5,000 pledge as a “lie” and argued it’s something Americans have heard from him before.<\/p>\n

“If you have an opportunity to provide relief to the American people, you should take it,” Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas said. “But lying to Americans around election season, what the president has done numerous times, I think it\u2019s sad and shameful.”<\/p>\n

\u2018STILL WAITING ON THE DOGE CHECK\u2019: BATTLEGROUND STATE VOTERS CAST DOUBT ON TRUMP\u2019S NEW $5K PROMISE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

He continued, “I can guarantee you those checks ain’t happening.”<\/p>\n

“I think it’s one more lie, and people aren’t going to fall for this,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Democratic lawmakers who disagree with Trump\u2019s idea. Many Republicans have also been vocal about their outright opposition,<\/a> with others questioning whether it could actually be achieved or approved by Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said last week congressional approval would be necessary.<\/p>\n

“You’ve already seen House Republicans and Capitol Hill Republicans say that this isn’t going to happen,” Aguilar said. “It’s just a campaign promise that he’s trying to make to the American public, because he knows he’s underwater, and he’s not doing well and people are angry.”<\/p>\n

“He’s done this before,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said. “He’s never followed through on it. If he does follow through, how are we gonna do it?”<\/p>\n

The payments to 240 million Americans would cost the federal government roughly $1.2 trillion. Trump brushed off affordability criticism of the pledge, saying the U.S. could “easily” afford the payouts.<\/p>\n

TRUMP DEFENDS $5,000 DIVIDEND PROPOSAL, PRAISES ‘BEAUTIFUL’ TARIFFS ON ‘INGRAHAM ANGLE’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance<\/a> suggested one source for the money could come from tariff revenue. He also proposed excluding wealthy Americans from receiving the payout to make the pledge\u2019s price tag more feasible.<\/p>\n

Democrats also scrutinized Trump\u2019s prioritization, urging the president to shift his focus to deliverables for the American people \u2014 particularly emphasizing healthcare.<\/p>\n

“I’d rather give people their healthcare and their food assistance back,” Subramanyam said. “That’d be way more than $5,000 for most people.”<\/p>\n

“If he really cared about the American people, he would have made sure they had healthcare,” Alsobrooks said.<\/p>\n

Warnock even blamed Trump\u2019s policies for being the reason Americans would need the $5,000 check.<\/p>\n

“The only reason why Americans would need $5,000 is because of Trump’s awful policies,” Warnock said. “He should fix his policies. He shouldn’t wait until after the election.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s promise of a hefty payout for all Americans if Republicans win big in the midterm elections is taking heat from Democratic lawmakers who blast the vow as a “hysterical” lie and unlawful bribe. “I think it’s hysterical,” Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., said about the promise. “Literally, I think, it’s insane. It’s effectively … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}