Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is breaking with President Donald Trump over the administration’s plan to issue $2,000 tariff dividend checks to Americans, arguing the money should instead be used to confront the nation’s exploding deficit.
Johnson told Fox Business that he supports the idea of putting tariff revenue back into the pockets of working families, but insisted that fiscal reality has to come first. The Wisconsin Republican said the country’s financial situation has reached a crisis point.
“We’re $38 trillion in debt,” Johnson said. “We’ve averaged $1.89 trillion deficits over the last five years. In the next 10 years, the projection’s about $26 trillion from accumulated deficits.”
Johnson warned that the U.S. is running out of time to fix the problem.
“We have to address the deficit problem. We are on borrowed time here. So many people are whistling by the graveyard. If we’re bringing in revenue through the tariffs, that oughta be applied to reduce the deficit,” he said.
President Donald Trump has argued that tariffs are generating massive revenue and has floated sending $2,000 checks to Americans below a certain income level. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated the cutoff would be around $100,000 a year for families.
The proposal requires approval from Congress, but Johnson and other Republicans have signaled the plan faces major resistance.
Johnson made it clear he does not believe Washington is in a position to send out checks, as the Conservative Brief reported.
“We can’t afford it,” Johnson said. “I wish we were in a position to return the American public their money, but we’re not. Again, we’ll have at least a $2 trillion deficit this year.”
Johnson contrasted the current deficit with past administrations.
“That compares to prior to the pandemic, President Trump had deficits of $800 billion. Obama, his last four years, $550 billion a year. Now, we’re $2 trillion? Completely unacceptable. We have to start focusing on that and doing something about it.”
The pushback comes as Democrats celebrate wins in New Jersey and Virginia after campaigning heavily on affordability. It also follows Supreme Court arguments over Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose reciprocal and trafficking tariffs.
Tariffs remain a core pillar of President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. They generated about $90 billion between their initial rollout and late September. Between late September 2024 and August of this year, tariff revenue surged to $195.9 billion.
Analysts say Trump’s $2,000 dividend would not be cheap. According to Tax Foundation official Erica York, limiting the payments to Americans earning under $100,000 would still cost roughly $300 billion.
Vice President J.D. Vance acknowledged concerns about the economy but urged voters to remain patient. He said signs of improvement are emerging, though the full benefits may take time to reach households.
“We get it and we hear you, and we know that there’s a lot of work to do,” Vance said at a Breitbart News event. “As much progress as we’ve made, it’s going to take a little time for Americans to feel that.”
Vance said the administration understands that affordability remains the number one issue. He pointed to groceries as a major pain point and noted that even falling egg prices remain too high for many families.
“If you’re an American who’s just struggling to get by, you work hard, you pay your taxes, you want your kids to have good opportunities. And then the price of eggs goes from $2 a dozen to $8 a dozen under the Biden administration, and then it goes from $8 a dozen to maybe $6.50 a dozen,” Vance said. “Well, to you that is still a major problem.”
