By Jack Phillips
A top White House economic official said that it appears more and more likely that the Trump administration will be sending out $2,000 tariff rebate checks and would be bringing a proposal to do so in 2026.
“In the summer, I wasn’t so sure that there was space for a check like that, but now I’m pretty sure that there is,” Kevin Hassett, the head of the National Economic Council, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Dec. 21.
He cited economic growth and a reduction in U.S. government debt as the reasons why he believes the rebate payments could be made next year.
“And so I would expect that in [the] new year, the president will bring forth a proposal to Congress to make that happen,” he told the outlet, noting that Congress has to pass legislation first before the rebates can be sent out.
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump and other top White House officials, including Hassett and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have floated the idea of sending $2,000 payments to low- and middle-income Americans. Several Republicans in Congress, however, have signaled that some on the GOP’s side won’t support the idea and said the tariff funds should be used to reduce the national debt.
Also in the CBS interview, Hassett said that if the Supreme Court rules against the Trump administration’s tariffs, it could create significant “administrative problems.”
“We really expect the Supreme Court is going to find with us,” Hassett said.
The economist said that even if the Supreme Court rules against the tariffs, it would be “unlikely that they’re going to call for widespread refunds because it would be an administrative problem to get those refunds out there,” referring to a refunding of import taxes that were collected by the government.
The nine justices are weighing a challenge to the legality of the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, enacted in 1977, after two lower courts ruled against the administration in how it implemented those duties.
Hassett, who has been floated as a successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, told the outlet that the high court likely won’t issue a ruling that forces a repayment because of how the tariffs are paid.
“The people who pay the tariff, if there is a refund, the people who actually paid for the good, the importer, in most cases, they’re the ones who would be the first line of defense for refunding the tariff,” he said. “That person would be responsible for allocating the tariff refund to the appropriate folks.”
Trump and Bessent, meanwhile, have said that there are other means through which tariffs could be implemented.
In early November, the Treasury secretary said that countries that are facing relatively higher U.S. tariffs should expect the duties to remain in place, while adding that officials in nations that made deals with the White House should honor their previous commitments despite what the Supreme Court rules.
In a Dec. 7 post on social media, Trump suggested that the current means of implementing the tariffs under the 1977 law is superior because it’s “more direct, less cumbersome, and much faster.” However, he said there are “other methods” that the U.S. government can use.
Reuters contributed to this report.
