GOP senators raise concerns about inflation, the national debt, and sending checks to people who don’t work or pay taxes.

Senate Republicans are pouring cold water on President Donald Trump’s proposal to send $5,000 payments to all American adults if Republicans win the midterm elections. Lawmakers are warning they will not support direct payments to people who do not work or pay taxes.

Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he is confused about the details. “We’re trying to figure out what that proposal is,” he said. “He calls it a dividend, but I don’t know what the proposal is and I haven’t seen any legislation.” Lankford warned that injecting more than $1 trillion into the economy could worsen inflation. “I don’t know if we should send the money out,” he said, citing the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. “When you throw money out there, that has a negative effect.”

Other Republicans are worried about the nation’s $40 trillion debt, which now costs more than $1 trillion a year in interest. Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said of the $5,000 dividend: “I haven’t seen the mechanism and how it would be done. I do worry about the $40 trillion debt we have, and something like this adds to the national debt.”

Daines acknowledged he heard about the plan for the first time when Trump unveiled it during a primetime speech at a Republican midterm convention in Dallas last Thursday. Republican senators say they received no advance notice from the president and do not expect his proposal to move forward anytime soon.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) declined to endorse Trump’s proposal on Monday, noting the president has not released a concrete plan. “There’s no concrete proposal yet, and obviously Congress will play a major role in how it comes together,” he said. Thune did suggest Republican senators would not ignore it, adding: “There will be discussions around this topic.” Asked whether he received any notice before last week’s GOP midterm convention, Thune said: “I did not.”

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said a dividend to Americans would only make sense if the federal government were running a surplus instead of $2 trillion annual deficits. “Most of the time, when you give a dividend, you’re making a profit,” he said. “I think maybe they just forgot the negative sign. If you’re losing $2 trillion a year, I guess that would be a negative $5,000 dividend.” He added: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to borrow money to send to the public. I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he would support putting $5,000 into Americans’ retirement or investment accounts if the money were “already there.” He said borrowing to fund the dividend would be a major problem. “If you tell me we have to borrow it, then obviously that has negative consequences on people’s personal finances in the near, medium, and long term through higher interest rates,” he said.

Other Republican lawmakers said the proposal would need to be redesigned as a tax cut for people who pay income or payroll taxes if it were to have any chance of passing the next Congress. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said on Fox News: “I think we should incentivize work. I don’t think we should pay people not to work.” Cruz said the proposal would need to be “structured as a tax rebate.”

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, called the idea “extraordinarily expensive.”

Thune defended Trump’s proposal last week, saying it was meant to return more money to taxpayers, but he was far from committing to bringing it to the Senate floor. Asked whether Senate Republicans would pass Trump’s $5,000 dividend, Thune replied: “Well, that’s a good question. We’ll see when we get there.” Asked whether the payment should go to people who don’t pay taxes, Thune said: “All those questions are unanswered at this point.”

Republicans are wary of a plan to send large payments to roughly 270 million Americans as investor concerns about the national debt push bond yields higher. The 10-year Treasury yield rose above 5% on Monday before closing slightly below that level. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly tried to reassure the bond market, with little success so far.

Paul on Monday called on Congress to cut spending rather than send $5,000 checks to millions of Americans regardless of employment status. Writing on X, he said: “If Washington really wanted to address affordability, it should control the reckless spending that causes inflation.” Paul called on Congress to pass a budget that cuts all federal spending by 6 cents on the dollar. “My Six Penny Plan cuts six cents out of every dollar of federal spending, balances the budget in five years, and makes life more affordable for everyone,” he said.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), whose state’s farmers are struggling with high fuel and fertilizer costs, said Republicans need to address the affordability crisis facing many Americans. He said high diesel prices are a bigger issue in Iowa’s governor and Senate races than the proposed $5,000 dividend. Both races are competitive. “We need to focus on affordability in this election,” Grassley said. “When diesel is $6 a gallon, the best thing Trump can do is follow what a Republican president and a Democratic president did in the 1970s when they were worried about food prices: they embargoed soybeans and wheat.” He called on Trump to halt diesel exports and keep fuel for domestic consumption. “He should ban diesel exports because $6 diesel is a bigger problem in Iowa than $5,000.”

However, some Republicans praised Trump’s dividend proposal. South Carolina Senator Darline Graham, who recently won a Republican primary runoff with Trump’s support, expressed support. “I think it’s a good idea,” she said.

Other Republican senators are undecided. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, said: “The president’s proposal caught everybody a little bit by surprise. We’ll see when it comes. I don’t think it’s imminent.” Asked about fiscal conservatives’ opposition to sending large payments to people who don’t work or pay taxes, Capito said: “There will certainly be a lot of discussion, I’m sure…”