It's been several years since the federal government issued a stimulus check but one senator from Missouri has introduced legislation that would do just that.
Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican Senator from Missouri, has introduced the American Worker Rebate Act of 2025. It creates a tariff rebate of $600 for each adult and each dependent child. This means a family of four would get $2,400.
Just like the stimulus checks of the pandemic, this one includes an income phaseout for those who earn a bit too much. The amount of the check would be reduced by 5% of adjusted gross income above these limits:
- Single filer limit of $75,000
- Head of household limit of $112,500
- Married filing jointly limit of $150,000
These checks would be funded by tariffs. The Treasury Department just announced that there was an unexpected surplus in June because of the tariffs created by the Trump Administration. Customs duties were around $27 billion in June, up from $23 billion in May and a staggering 301% increase from June 2024.
This revenue would be used to fund the tariff rebates. If tariff revenues exceeded projections, the additional funds could be used to increase the amount of the rebates.
At the start of the year, there had been talk of a stimulus check funded by the savings created by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE Dividend is no long on anyone's mind but these tariff rebates have more life to them.
When asked about these tariff rebates, President Trump verbally expressed his support for the idea. The proposal was only recently announced and will have to be passed by both houses of Congress before it can be signed into law. The House of Representatives is currently on recess and will not return until September 2nd.
This bill will take some time so don't expect to get one in the mail just yet.
