Sen. Ron Johnson on Monday pushed back against President Trump’s proposal to issue $2,000 “tariff dividend” checks to Americans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, arguing the money should instead go toward reducing the federal deficit.Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings With Maria” that he supports the concept in principle but believes restoring the nation’s fiscal stability should take precedence.
“We’re $38 trillion in debt,” he said. “We’ve averaged $1.89 trillion deficits over the last five years. In the next 10 years, the projection’s about $26 trillion from accumulated deficits.”
“We have to address the deficit problem. We are on borrowed time here. So many people are whistling by the graveyard. If we’re bringing in revenue through the tariffs, that oughta be applied to reduce the deficit,” the Wisconsin Republican added.Trump has repeatedly suggested issuing tariff-funded payments to the public. Earlier this month, he proposed $2,000 checks for Americans below a certain income threshold, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated would be about $100,000 a year for families, the New York Post reported.
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The plan would need approval from the Republican-controlled Congress, but Johnson and other GOP lawmakers have signaled that the proposal is unlikely to move forward.
“We can’t afford it,” Johnson reiterated Monday. “I wish we were in a position to return the American public their money, but we’re not. Again, we’ll have at least a $2 trillion deficit this year.
“That compares to prior to the pandemic, President Trump had deficits of $800 billion. [Barack] Obama, his last four years, $550 billion a year. Now, we’re $2 trillion? Completely unacceptable. We have to start focusing on that and doing something about it.”
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The president’s proposal came just days after Democrats won key off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia by emphasizing affordability. It also followed Supreme Court arguments over Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy broad “reciprocal” and “trafficking” tariffs on dozens of countries.
IEEPA tariffs are a central pillar of Trump’s trade agenda and have generated roughly $90 billion in revenue between their rollout and Sept. 23, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, The Post added.
