{"id":2513088,"date":"2025-11-21T08:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/deficit-hawks-thumb-their-nose-at-trumps-tariff-rebate-promise\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:08:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:08:22","slug":"deficit-hawks-thumb-their-nose-at-trumps-tariff-rebate-promise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/deficit-hawks-thumb-their-nose-at-trumps-tariff-rebate-promise\/","title":{"rendered":"Deficit hawks thumb their nose at Trump&#8217;s tariff rebate promise"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdeficit-hawks-thumb-their-nose-at-trumps-tariff-rebate-promise%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2513088&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses President Donald Trump&#8217;s proposal to issue $2,000 rebate checks to Americans funded by tariff revenues. Though, this idea faces strong opposition from deficit hawks and manny Republican senators who prefer using tariff income to reduce the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yellen-passage-of-covid-relief-bill-will-get-labor-market-back-on-track-despite-inflation-fears\/\" title=\"Yellen: Passage of COVID relief ... will get labor market back on track despite inflation fears\">growing national debt<\/a>, which is projected to reach $1.8 trillion in 2025. Tariff revenues expected this year are about $300 billion, significantly less than the $600 billion needed for the rebates. Key Republican figures, including sen. Kevin Cramer and Sen. Rand Paul, criticize the plan as fiscally irresponsible, emphasizing the need to prioritize deficit reduction over new spending. Senate GOP leadership generally shares this cautious stance. <\/p>\n<p>The White House is seeking ways to implement the rebates without needing congressional approval,but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/epstein-trump-and-the-scandal-that-wont-disappear\/\" title=\"Epstein, Trump, and the scandal that won&#039;t disappear\">skepticism remains high<\/a>. Several senators express concern about how the rebates fit into overall fiscal policy, while some Republican candidates support the proposal for political reasons. The Congressional Budget office estimates tariff revenues of $3.3 trillion over the next decade, but this depends on maintaining current tariff rates and could be affected by legal challenges. Critics also point out that the cost of Trump&#8217;s rebate plan could be double the expected tariff revenue.<\/p>\n<p>An exception among Republicans is Sen. Josh Hawley, who supports the direct payments and challenges his colleagues to reconsider their priorities, criticizing ongoing tax breaks for wealthy sectors while opposing aid for working families. the article highlights notable Republican divisions over the proposal and doubts about its feasibility given the nation&#8217;s fiscal outlook.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Deficit hawks thumb their nose at Trump&rsquo;s $2,000 tariff rebate promise<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2397823\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump&rsquo;s<\/a> pledge to cut $2,000 checks for Americans using <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tariffs\/\">tariff<\/a> revenue is getting the cold shoulder from Republican senators. But conservatives worried about the national debt are going a step further in their disapproval.<\/p>\n<p>Budget hawks scoff at the notion of using import taxes from foreign goods for anything other than paying down the deficit that&rsquo;s projected to top $1.8 trillion for 2025. Tariff revenue this year is predicted to reach $300 billion, only half of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crfb.org\/blogs\/tariff-dividends-could-cost-600-billion-year\">$600 billion<\/a> needed to dish out the checks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3894046\/pro-israel-democratic-pac-2026-senate-map-endorsements\/\">Pro-Israel Democratic PAC enters 2026 Senate map with first battleground endorsements<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3894597\/thune-attempt-alter-arctic-frost-provision-blocked\/\">Thune attempt to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thune-attempt-to-alter-controversial-arctic-frost-provision-blocked\/\" title=\"... attempt to alter controversial \u2018Arctic Frost\u2019 provision blocked\">alter controversial &#038;lsquo<\/a>;Arctic Frost&rsquo; provision blocked<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3893308\/schumer-demands-rubio-give-senate-venezuela-military-buildup-briefing\/\">Schumer demands Rubio give Senate briefing on US military buildup around Venezuela<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3882706\/trump-2000-dollar-tariff-dividend-checks-how-rebate-payments-could-work\/\">TRUMP PROMISES $2,000 TARIFF DIVIDEND CHECKS: HOW THE REBATE PAYMENTS COULD WORK<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not crazy about it,&rdquo; Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kevin-cramer\/\">Kevin Cramer<\/a> (R-ND), a close Trump ally, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;How about we start paying down the deficit rather than coming up with a new expense?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rand-paul\/\">Rand Paul<\/a> (R-KY), a libertarian who&rsquo;s no stranger to being at odds with the president, called tariff rebates a &ldquo;really, really, really, really bad idea.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;How do you give any money if you don&rsquo;t have any money?&rdquo; Paul asked. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to be $2 trillion in the hole. That&rsquo;d be like, &lsquo;Hmm, let&rsquo;s borrow another $300 billion so we&rsquo;ll be $2.3 trillion in the hole and then give it back to people.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Many among the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/senate\">Senate<\/a> GOP leadership also appear uninterested, echoing a position staked out by Majority Leader <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-thune\/\">John Thune<\/a> (R-SD) that the preferred use for tariff funds would be to slow the growth of the nation&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usdebtclock.org\/\">$38 trillion in debt<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The resistance marks the latest illustration of Republican fears that Trump and their majorities in Congress are wasting <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3377303\/deficit-hawks-look-white-house-make-good-trump-agenda-budget-cuts\/\">opportunities to combat the deficit<\/a>. It&rsquo;s also the starkest indicator that the president&rsquo;s pledge, while likely more popular with voters than <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2025\/11\/04\/trump-inflation-prices-poll\/\">his trade policies<\/a>, is unlikely to receive the congressional approval it needs to become a reality.<\/p>\n<p>Thune declined to say if he&rsquo;d be willing to consider legislation to approve tariff rebates before year&rsquo;s end, as Treasury Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/scott-bessent\/\">Scott Besset<\/a> has urged. Trump said this week that Americans &ldquo;of moderate income [and] middle income,&rdquo; should expect to receive $2,000 checks &ldquo;later on, somewhere prior to, probably the middle of next year.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think the amount of revenue coming in from the tariffs is considered to be substantial, at this point, and hopefully can be put to a useful purpose,&rdquo; Thune said. &ldquo;Again, in my view, one of which would be repaying the debt.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/white-house\/\">White House<\/a> is in search of a workaround to allow the administration to greenlight the rebates without <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\">Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There is also an election component to Trump&rsquo;s promise, with some Senate candidates, such as Republican Mike Rogers in the battleground state of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/michigan\/\">Michigan<\/a>, endorsing the proposal on the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-elections\/\">campaign trail<\/a>. Others like Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\">John Cornyn<\/a> (R-TX), who&rsquo;s locked in a brutal three-way primary challenge, declined to embrace the plan.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I know free money is very popular,&rdquo; Cornyn told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to know a little more about how it fits into our overall fiscal condition.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump officials have pointed to forecasts showing trillions in tariff revenue over the next decade to bolster their case, but several wild-card factors could significantly diminish or wipe out those predictions entirely.<\/p>\n<p>The nonpartisan <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congressional-budget-office\/\">Congressional Budget Office<\/a> estimates $3.3 trillion in tariff revenue over the next 10 years, but only if higher rates persist, which Trump has fluctuated on widely during his first year. The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\">Supreme Court<\/a> could also render his tariffs moot if they&rsquo;re struck down as unconstitutional without approval from Congress in a pending case before the high court.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the rebate checks, Trump has also pledged to use tariff revenue for things like debt reduction, tax cuts in his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, bailouts for farmers hurt by tariffs, and paying troops during the recent <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government-shutdown\/\">government shutdown<\/a>. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says rebates, as described by Trump, would cost&nbsp;$6 trillion&nbsp;over a decade, or &ldquo;roughly twice as much as President Trump&rsquo;s tariffs are estimated to raise over the same time period.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think whatever revenue we get from whatever source ought to go to probably bring down those deficits,&rdquo; said Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ron-johnson\/\">Ron Johnson<\/a> (R-WI), citing the national debt and annual deficit.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/josh-hawley\/\">Josh Hawley<\/a> (R-MO) is an outlier among the chamber&rsquo;s budget hawks. His bill, the American Worker Rebate Act, would divvy out pandemic-style direct payments of at least $600 per adult and dependent child using tariff money. He scolded his colleagues for opposing the proposed checks rather than &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/wall-street\/\">Wall Street<\/a> goodies&rdquo; and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >closing costly tax loopholes<\/a>, or pressing for higher taxes on the rich.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m concerned about the deficit as much as anybody, but I don&rsquo;t understand why it is that every time there&rsquo;s something that would benefit working people on the table, it&rsquo;s always like, &lsquo;Oh, no, we can&rsquo;t do that [because of] [t]he deficit,&rsquo;&rdquo; Hawley told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;But if we want to preserve the carried interest loophole, or we want to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/crenshaw-proposal-to-pay-illegal-immigrants-vaccine-mandates-why-virginia-went-the-way-it-did\/\" title=\"Crenshaw: ... to Pay Illegal Immigrants, Vaccine Mandates &#039;Why Virginia Went the Way It Did&#039;\">give tax breaks<\/a> to Wall Street banks, then we have to do it. Then it&rsquo;s, &lsquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s vital, vital, vital.&rsquo; That stuff costs hundreds of billions of dollars.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3890658\/white-house-floats-circumventing-congress-tariff-rebate-checks\/\">WHITE HOUSE FLOATS CIRCUMVENTING CONGRESS ON $2,000 TARIFF REBATE CHECKS DESPITE HEFTY COST ESTIMATE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Still, voting for tariff rebates would effectively undercut the philosophy of budget hawks, most of whom have rebuffed Democratic efforts to roll back certain Trump tariffs based in large part on promises from <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\">the administration<\/a> to pay down debt.<\/p>\n<p>And the chances for any Democratic crossovers are slim to none, at least in the Senate. The Democrat most frequently to side with Republicans this year, Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-fetterman\/\">John Fetterman<\/a> (D-PA), cited a &ldquo;significant concern&rdquo; the rebates would have on inflation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deficit hawks reject Trump&#8217;s $2,000 tariff rebate plan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2513089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2245545237.jpg?w=594","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[53386,67469,50406,3634],"class_list":["post-2513088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-deficit-hawks","tag-rebate-promise","tag-tariffs-2","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2245545237.jpg?w=594","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2513088"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2513093,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513088\/revisions\/2513093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2513089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2513088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2513088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2513088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}