Trump's proposed $2,000 tariff rebate checks depend on Congress

"I would expect that in the new year, the president will bring forth a proposal to Congress to make that happen," Hassett said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

Details about Trump's tariff rebate proposal remain sparse. Trump has said he wants to issue the rebate checks and use the rest of the tariff revenue to pay down the nation's $38 trillion debt, even as the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet determined whether he has the authority to impose tariffs.

Trump said the rebates would be for low and middle-income Americans, not the wealthy, but has not specified any income limits. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously suggested the checks could go to those earning less than $100,000 a year, but noted that no decision had been made on income caps.

Three different scenarios analyzed by the Tax Foundation estimate that costs of distributing the checks would range from $279.8 billion to $606.8 billion. The scenarios varied according to income limits, single and joint filers and head of household filers.

"Even if all tariff revenues, including pre-existing and new tariffs, went toward rebates, revenue would still fall short," according to a Tax Foundation report. "Even factoring in the collections that will come in over the remaining three months of the year, tariff money would not pay for even the narrowest tariff dividend option."

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget also said the math doesn't work, according to its analysis. The group said if the rebates were structured like the COVID-19 stimulus payments, the $2,000 dividend would cost about $600 billion, which is about twice as much as tariffs are expected to generate this year.