Johnson Says Congress Will Work Through Trump’s $5,000 Payments, No Guarantee

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Congress would “work through” President Donald Trump’s promise of $5,000 payments to American adults if Republicans keep both chambers after the midterms, but he declined to guarantee it, NBC News reported. The speaker spoke on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker.

“I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus on that, like I have to do everything else,” Johnson said. He said “it takes some time,” citing Republicans’ slim majorities. Asked whether he would double down on the promise, he said he would “work with the president hand in hand” and added, “That’s the promise.” On the debt, he said, “I don’t want to add to that,” and said “we’re not going to get further in debt if this idea was implemented,” without saying how.

Trump made the pledge at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, where he said, “I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Fox News reported. He called it the “Trump dividend.” NBC News estimated the cost at about $1.3 trillion, and PBS put it above $1 trillion.

Funding remains the open question. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the money would not come from taxpayers but that the administration could “earn the money,” NBC reported, and experts say it is unclear how that would work. Trump told CBS News that Congress would likely not need to approve the payments, but added, “I think they will do it if we needed it,” according to NBC. Rick Hasen, an election-law expert at the UCLA School of Law, told PBS earlier that Congress would have to pass the payments.

Resistance has come from Trump’s own side. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X that “dependency is evil and soul-sucking in all its forms,” PBS reported. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, raised similar warnings about the plan, NBC reported, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune sidestepped the question on Fox News on Thursday, saying, “we’ll cross our bridge when we come to it.” NBC reported that critics said the plan would drive up inflation and that experts warned it could add to the debt and inflation,.

Johnson also addressed the Iran war. He said Congress does not give the White House a blank check, adding that the war “is not continuing,” NBC reported.

Johnson did not set a timeline, a cost or a source of funds for the payments, and some Republicans, such as Roy, have already criticized the idea.