Ortíz Calls on Trump to Refund Americans for “Tax America First” Tariff Scheme

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Aarón Ortíz, D-Chicago, championed House Resolution 623 calling on President Trump, Congressional Republicans and the U.S. Treasury to refund Americans for the cost of the president’s senseless, illegal and out-of-control tariff wars.

“Americans have been asked to do more with less, while the president is trying to buy Greenland, take over Venezuela and tank the U.S. economy with midnight tariff announcements,” Ortíz said. “The American people, and especially the hardworking families and business owners on the Southwest Side, are fed up. I rose in the House Chamber to call on the president to put the phone down, rescind his illegal tariffs and refund the American people for the financial trouble he has caused. People just want to earn an honest living and support their families, not have their hard-earned dollars be garnished to pay for whatever tax increase he wants to slap on everyday goods and services next.” 

Ortíz authored House Resolution 623 which calls on the Trump Administration, U.S. Treasury and Congressional Republicans to issue $2,000 repayments to every American household with an annual income below $250,000, as a refund for lost wages and savings due to Trump’s tariff wars. 

According to data from the Treasury Department and Goldman Sachs, the president’s tariff wars have cost Americans $159 billion in 2025, a tax of $1,200 on every household. 

These tariffs have hit goods and services across the U.S. economy, impacting the cost of household appliances, food and electronics. 

“The data shows that Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda is really a ‘Tax America First’ agenda,” Ortíz said. “However he spins it, the results are the same: it’s a failure. The American people deserve better than a president who fires off tweets and tanks the economy and erases people’s retirement savings as a result.”