Sen. Josh Hawley wants to exclude ‘Biden voters' from $600 Trump tariff rebate checks

Independent

3 days ago

Senator Josh Hawley says the legislation he proposes will send $600 tariff rebate checks to Americans, but not to 'Biden voters,' only to 'Trump blue-collar voters.'
'Well, you wouldn't give it to everybody, you'd give it to the working people,' the Missouri Republican told far-right podcaster and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on Tuesday. 'You'd give it to our people.'
'I mean, you know, the rich people don't need it … what I mean by that is all those Democrat donors of Wall Street, all these hedge fund guys, who all hate the tariffs, by the way.'
The senator introduced the American Worker Rebate Act of 2025 on July 28. It proposes refundable tax credits of at least $600 per adult and dependent child, funded by tariff revenues, with a phase-out for incomes exceeding $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for joint filers. Checks could exceed that if revenues are higher.
He said on Bannon's War Room podcast, 'We're on track to raise over $150 billion from tariff revenues this year alone, this calendar year alone.'
'My view is, we ought to give a portion [of] that back to our working-class blue-collar voters who powered the Trump revolution, who got this president into office multiple times, and who are the backbone of this nation.'
Tariffs are imposed on imports by U.S. companies, which then pass much of the increased costs on to American consumers through higher prices on goods. Any rebate check would likely be swallowed up by those price increases.
In the first half of the year, companies rushed to stock up on goods and inputs from overseas in preparation for the impending imposition of tariffs. This has so far prevented large price hikes, but those inventories will begin to dwindle, and soon the cost of goods is expected to start creeping up.
'Biden has crushed these people,' Hawley claimed, turning his ire toward the previous administration. 'What a legacy for Donald Trump to say, 'I'm gonna take a portion of this massive money' that he's raising on these tariffs, and return it to the people who run this country and are gonna build our future.'
Hawley's plan, like the pandemic stimulus checks of the first Trump administration, has strict caps on who is eligible for a rebate payment.
'It'd be $600 for every adult and child, so if you've got a big family, you're gonna get more,' he said.
'And you'd phase it out for income, you know? So again, the wealthy — you start making six figures, you get into the big six figures — you'd phase the thing out.'
'So this is not going to the hedge fund managers or all the Biden voters. This is not going to the Wall Street kingpins. So they don't need any of it,' Hawley continued.
Hawley failed to note that President Joe Biden was not on the ballot in the 2024 election. He was replaced on the Democratic Party ticket by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Continuing to rail against the previous administration, he said: 'This is going to the Trump blue collar voters, the people who Joe Biden crushed, the people who didn't get a raise under Joe Biden for four long years, the people who cannot afford their gas, because Joe Biden shut down our energy, who can't afford their groceries, because Joe Biden drove up the price of everything.'
He added: 'And it is a message from us to them, from Trump to these folks that he is here to deliver for them.'
The Tax Foundation reported on Monday that Trump's tariffs will raise the costs of food for Americans in addition to the more widely covered impact on the cost of manufactured goods. In 2024, the US imported approximately $221 billion in food products, 74 percent of which ($163 billion) would be subject to the Trump tariffs. Some popular food products, such as bananas and coffee, are almost entirely imported.
Critics of the plan to issue $600 rebate checks to Americans argue that the money should instead be used to pay down the national debt, which has increased by another $3.4 trillion thanks to Trump's 'Great, Big, Beautiful Bill,' according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Others note that this is a repeat of the Covid-19 pandemic recovery stimulus measures implemented by both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, which sent out direct checks to individuals.
In both instances, there were complaints that the relief provided by the money was short-lived, and Republicans criticized President Biden's $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, 'The American Rescue Plan,' specifically for stoking rapid inflation.
Concerning the Hawley plan, its similarities to earlier initiatives and the inflationary pressure they fueled, opinion writer Josh Barro quipped on X: 'The stimulus will continue until inflation improves.'
The U.S. economy experienced a surprising three percent expansion between April and June, offering a temporary rebound from a first-quarter downturn linked to disruptions from Trump's trade disputes.
Yet, despite this growth, the report's underlying data suggests a continued apprehension among American consumers and businesses. This caution is rooted in the economic uncertainty created by Trump's tariff plans.