A bill to send tariff-funded rebate checks to American workers has been sitting untouched in a Senate committee for more than a year, even as the tariff revenue behind the idea has kept climbing. No hearing has been scheduled, no committee vote has been taken, and no check has gone out, even as the proposal continues to circulate in headlines as though a payment were imminent.
What the American Worker Rebate Act would pay
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the American Worker Rebate Act on July 28, 2025, days after President Trump voiced support for the idea of a rebate funded by record tariff collections. At the time the bill was introduced, Hawley’s office pointed to monthly tariff collections that had climbed close to $30 billion, with some projections at the time putting full-year tariff revenue over $150 billion — the pool of money the bill would draw from if it ever became law.
The bill would provide a tariff rebate check of at least $600 per adult and dependent child, or $2,400 for a family of four, structured similarly to the direct payments Congress approved during the pandemic. The legislation also includes a provision allowing a larger rebate if tariff revenue collected in a given year exceeds current projections, since the payments are explicitly tied to how much the federal government actually takes in through tariffs rather than to a fixed appropriation.
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Why the bill hasn’t moved in over a year
The American Worker Rebate Act was referred to the Senate Finance Committee the same day it was introduced, and it has stayed there ever since. As of this month, no committee markup or vote has been scheduled, and the bill has not reached the Senate floor. Independent legislative trackers rate its chances of advancing through the current Congress as low, since a rebate bill funded by tariff revenue competes for floor time with every other tax and spending priority, and committee leadership sets that calendar, not the bill’s sponsor. A presidential statement of support, which is what prompted Hawley to introduce the bill in the first place, does not substitute for a committee vote, floor passage in both chambers or a presidential signature — all steps this particular bill has not reached.
The bill’s formal number, S. 2475, places it among hundreds of measures introduced in the current Congress that never receive a committee vote at all, regardless of how much media attention they draw at introduction. A rebate proposal tied to tariff revenue also raises its own policy questions that a committee would typically work through before advancing a bill — including how a rebate funded by revenue that rises and falls with trade policy would be sized or timed in a year when tariff collections come in lower than projected, and how the payments would interact with a household’s other federal tax filings. None of those questions have been resolved in committee because the committee has not yet taken the bill up.
What would actually have to happen before a check goes out
Even if the political dynamics shifted, a rebate check funded this way would still require several steps that have not started. The Finance Committee would need to mark up and approve the bill, both the full Senate and the House would need to pass identical or reconciled versions, and the president would need to sign it into law. Only after enactment would the Treasury Department and the IRS begin the operational work of determining eligibility, income phase-outs and a delivery mechanism — the same kind of buildout that took weeks to stand up for the 2020 pandemic stimulus payments even after that legislation was signed, and that relied on prior-year tax return data the agencies already had on file. None of that infrastructure exists yet for a tariff rebate, because the underlying bill has not left committee, and no agency has been directed to begin building it.
A rebate still stuck in committee
A proposed rebate check generates headlines long before it generates a deposit, and a household budgeting around a payment that is still sitting in committee is budgeting around a number that does not exist yet. The benefit programs that are actually on the books right now carry their own deadlines and paperwork, and they go unclaimed by eligible households far more often than a headline like this one would suggest.
The Benefits Checklist is a 69-page guide covering 11 benefit programs and the 2026 income limits that determine eligibility today, plus a 50-state phone directory for filing questions.
This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of AI and reviewed by an editor.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
