Photo illustration -American consumers pay the tariff costs that Uncle Sam returns to them as a $5,000 “dividend.” Tariffs are taxes that the American consumer has to pay
President Trump’s proposal to send adult U.S. citizens $5,000 dividend checks would require congressional approval, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Sunday.
Why it matters: Trump and his top officials claim they can send the checks without Congress — even with the prospect of them costing upward of $1.3 trillion.
“He’d need Congress to act,” Johnson said in a CNN interview.
- Asked by NBC’s “”Meet the Press” if he’d commit that the checks will be sent, Johnson said “I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus on that like they have to do everything else.”
President Trump, at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, said this week he’d order a $5,000 check — a “Trump Dividend” — if Republicans retained control of the House and the Senate.
- Trump and other officials have said the dividend would be funded by tariffs, gains on investments and other income.
- The president told reporters before departing Ireland on Sunday that “the $5,000 checks are going forward” and that he had thought of this plan “a while ago.”
- When a reporter asked why not do the checks now instead of after the midterm elections, given Republicans currently control Congress, Trump replied: “Because if the Democrats get in, our country will be in shambles.”
Such a massive stimulus also comes with significant economic risks, both to the deficit and inflation.
- The idea has already met bipartisan opposition, though Trump has insisted the offer and the checks will happen.
Axios
