On Monday, Republican Senator Josh Hawley put forth a bill to issue tariff rebate checks amounting to at least $600 per adult and child to U.S. households. This initiative mirrors the stimulus payments distributed by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hawley made the move after a commitment he voiced on Friday, following statements by former President Donald Trump expressing his interest in distributing a rebate check tied to tariffs for Americans.
“As President Trump suggested, my proposal is designed to ensure that the wealth generated by Trump’s tariffs directly benefits the diligent citizens of this nation,” Hawley mentioned in a statement.
Hawley, who championed stimulus check legislation with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., amid the Covid pandemic in 2020, authored his new bill to echo that past effort. The program would be set up as a refundable tax credit, with the government sending checks this year should the bill advance through Congress and get Trump’s signature. The bill would ensure that the amount provided to each adult and dependent child is at least $600. It also allows for a larger rebate per person should tariff revenue exceed projections.
The bill reduces the rebate by 5% for joint filers who have adjusted gross income in excess of $150,000, a head of household whose income exceeds $112,500 and an individual taxpayer whose income exceeds $75,000.
The Treasury Department reported earlier this month that customs duties totaled about $27 billion for June, an increase of about $4 billion from May. But June also saw inflation tick up slightly as Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs started to work through the U.S. economy. The independent Tax Foundation projected that Trump’s tariffs would raise $2.5 trillion in revenue over the next decade, but, through price increases, would effectively increase taxes on the average U.S. household by nearly $1,300 this year and nearly $1,700 in 2026, should they remain in full effect.
Hawley’s bill has a long road ahead of it before it could become law. Earlier this year, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., poured cold water on different proposal to send direct checks to Americans. Johnson’s comments were in response to the idea of a “DOGE dividend” check, where the government would send a portion of the savings created by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency directly to U.S. taxpayers. But DOGE fell far short of then-leader Elon Musk’s projection of as much as $2 trillion in savings, and Musk has broken with Trump after leaving the administration in May.
