American babies may get $1,000 each to invest because of Ted Cruz

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wants to give every American baby $1,000 — and he’s on course to get his way.

The inspiration came during a late night card game in April 2024 with professional poker player Phil Hellmuth, who told Cruz about Invest America, a group that promotes financial literacy in private investment. A few weeks later, Brad Gerstner, the group’s CEO, flew to the nation’s capital to meet with Cruz to pitch a federally facilitated savings account for every child in the U.S.

After their conversation, Cruz was hooked, he told The Texas Tribune in an interview this week. He saw the opportunity to both leverage compound interest for American children in the United States and educate them about American capitalism.