Sen. Josh Hawley introduces bill to send tariff rebate checks to Americans

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation on Monday to provide tariff rebate checks of at least $600 per adult and child to American families, similar to the stimulus checks the government distributed during the Covid pandemic.

Hawley submitted his legislation after pledging to do so Friday following President Donald Trump’s remark to reporters that he would be interested in sending a tariff-related rebate check to Americans.

“Like President Trump proposed, my legislation would allow hard-working Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump’s tariffs are returning to this country,” Hawley said 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.