Senate Republicans, save for Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, are not rushing to implement President Trump’s idea to use incoming tariff revenue to give Americans a share of the windfall coming in from the new levies.
The proposal — at least in the week since Mr. Trump conceptually floated it — is falling flat on Capitol Hill.
Several Senate Republicans said they’d prefer the president use tariff revenue to reduce the $37 trillion national debt.
“I’d rather use it to pay down the debt, personally,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Republican, told The Washington Times.
The president still has designs on doing that, even though he’s considering using some of the revenue to send Americans a check.
“We have so much money coming in, we’re thinking about a little rebate,” Mr. Trump told reporters last month. “But the big thing we want to do is pay down debt.”
He suggested the rebate should only be “for people of a certain income level,” but did not specify a cut-off income.
Mr. Hawley immediately seized on the idea and introduced a bill to provide Americans with a rebate of at least $600 in the form of an advanced tax credit, similar to relief checks Congress had the IRS cut during the pandemic.
The bill includes a provision to allow for a larger rebate if tariff revenue is higher than anticipated.
The base $600 rebate per adult and dependent child phases out for individuals earning more than $75,000 and couples earning more than $150,000.
“It directs it to blue-collar folks,” Mr. Hawley said.
The senator said he’s not concerned about Republicans facing any political fallout from Mr. Trump’s tariff policies but that rebates would “be really good.”
“I think there’s any number of packages that could move in,” Mr. Hawley said. “I’ll look for opportunities to bring it up.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune cited Mr. Hawley’s bill when asked about Trump floating a tariff rebate bill, but he said there’s no momentum around the proposal at the moment.
“I don’t think there’s any conversation around that just yet,” the South Dakota Republican said. “I don’t think we have any idea what the full impact of the tariffs is.”
Mr. Trump has been announcing tariffs on countries he’s cut trade deals with in recent weeks as he aims to reduce deficits with key trading partners.
Friday was his deadline for countries to reach a deal with the U.S., and for those that did not, the White House announced new “reciprocal tariff” rates that range from 15% to 41%.
Exactly how much revenue the new tariff rates will generate remains to be seen.
Even with the fluctuating tariff rates during the early months of Mr. Trump’s second term, the White House said customs and tariff revenue have surpassed $150 billion.
“I think we have to have an open mind, but we should evaluate it carefully,” he said of the tariff rebate idea.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that tariffs imposed as of May 13 would bring in $2.5 trillion in revenue over a decade and reduce federal outlays for interest by $500 billion, for a combined $3 trillion in deficit reduction.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said CBO’s $3 trillion estimate “is now pretty low given the new deals that we’ve had.”
“The president looks forward to working with Congress in the second half of the year to decide on what the best way to use that money is,” Mr. Hassett said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked about a potential tariff rebate.
Several Senate Republicans, when asked about the tariff rebate idea, pointed to relief they’ve already provided Americans by enacting the biggest tax cut ever in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“So there have already been some significant efforts to get resources in the hands of people, but this idea is one I’m willing to look at and see if we need to do it,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, the Idaho Republican who will have significant sway over the rebate proposal’s future as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Sen. John Hoeven, North Dakota Republican, said lawmakers should have an “open mind” to the rebate idea, “but we should evaluate it carefully.”
Other GOP senators suggested they’d need to see the specifics of any Trump rebate proposal before taking a position on it.
“Is it based on income? Is it based on those making under a certain threshold, above a certain threshold? Is it impoverished areas?” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. “The devil’s in the details.”
Even with further details and evaluation, persuading Republicans to spend money on rebate checks rather than reducing the debt could be a tough sell.
“I support it enthusiastically — as soon as we pay down the $37 trillion debt,” said Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican. “I firmly believe that people can spend money better than government can, but we’ve got a big credit card bill, and we’ve only been paying the minimum each month.”
Mr. Hawley acknowledged his colleagues haven’t been eager to adopt the rebate proposal.
“It’s such a good idea, they don’t like it,” he said, chuckling. “Trust me, it would be the most popular thing this Congress has done.”
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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