A Republican senator is drafting legislation to make President Donald Trump’s proposed $5,000 dividend checks a reality, but with a structure that ties the payout directly to tariff revenue rather than new taxpayer spending.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital he plans to introduce the bill once the midterm elections are over, wary that control of Congress could shift to Democrats before then. Under his proposal, the checks would not draw from general tax revenue. Instead, they would be funded through what Moreno calls a “market access fee” — a structural tariff charged to foreign companies that want to sell products in the United States without manufacturing here.
“This dividend would be something that is allowing working Americans to share in the prosperity of this country,” Moreno said. “The money would be used only here in the United States, so it’s not to be used outside the United States.”
He described the mechanism plainly: “If you’re a company out there, anywhere in the world, you want to sell your products in America, you either make it here in the United States, or you pay a fee to enter our market. That money goes to funding this one-time dividend.”
Trump first floated the idea Wednesday night at the Republicans’ midterm convention in Dallas, an event that drew much of the GOP’s field of vulnerable incumbents and candidates looking to rally support ahead of November.
A Trillion-Dollar Price Tag
The plan carries an estimated cost of $1.2 trillion. Moreno argues it’s worth it, pointing to lingering economic strain on households despite legislative wins Republicans have already notched.
“It’s about providing relief,” Moreno said. “It’s acknowledgment that during the Biden years, it was so bad for working families, that, despite what we’ve already done in 18 months, it just isn’t enough to get working families to basically so that they’re level, right? Because they’re underwater right now. I think it’s extremely important for us to understand in elected office that working families are struggling.”
The proposal surfaces as the federal deficit climbed to $40 trillion last month, a figure that sits awkwardly alongside the GOP’s longstanding pitch as the party of fiscal discipline. For the dividend plan to pass, Republicans would need to retain control of both chambers of Congress.
An Unlikely Fiscal-Hawk Endorsement
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., known for pressing Congress to confront the national debt, offered a notably supportive read during the GOP convention.
“Hardworking American taxpayers probably deserve a tax rebate. We’re gonna have to discuss, you know, how large a rebate that would be. But I think, again, American taxpayers deserve relief from taxation. I think that’s a good idea,” Harris said.
Harris noted any such plan would need to move through Congress, likely via the party-line budget reconciliation process to bypass Democratic opposition. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed.
“It smells very much like a reconciliation issue,” Thune told Fox News Digital.
Thune said Senate Republicans would work with Trump’s team on the idea, though he noted it was new territory until Wednesday’s speech. He framed it as a contrast in governing philosophy.
“I think it illustrates the clear contrast between us and the Democrats about how you want to, how you see government functioning,” Thune said. “And one is in giving more power, control, money in the pockets of the American people, and the other, giving more power to, you know, for people in Washington to tell you how to run your life.”
Democrats Push Back
Democratic lawmakers were quick to dismiss the plan. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., cast doubt on whether it would ever materialize, citing past promises he said went unfulfilled.
“Donald Trump is a known liar. This is the biggest liar to ever serve in government, period. And look, the dividend is not happening,” Garcia told Fox News Digital. “He promised a dividend on tariffs, that didn’t happen. He promised a dividend on Doge, that didn’t happen. He promised some strange new dividend from Air Force One, what, six months ago. That never happened.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was harsher still, calling the proposal a political maneuver rather than genuine policy.
“An insult to Americans, to democracy, and an admission of how absolutely screwed he is,” Schumer wrote on X, describing Trump’s presidency as “so failed and broken, he is resorting to trying to bribe the American people for their votes.”
Moreno rejected the criticism, arguing Democrats have shown little hesitation sending money abroad while balking at returning revenue to American households.
“So look, at the end of the day, these politicians are all hypocritical. They love helping anybody on earth except for working Americans,” Moreno said. “They love giving money to foreign countries. They love funding endless wars. They love having us solve the entirety of the world’s problems. When it comes to helping working Americans, all of a sudden, there’s no money. What we’re saying is no.”
