Loading record
Catherine Rampell is an economics journalist and commentator, economics editor at The Bulwark, and an anchor at MS NOW. Her work focuses on economics, politics, public policy, and immigration. She previously wrote an opinion column for The Washington Post and reported for The New York Times and PBS NewsHour.
Role at the time: Economics journalist commenting on her own X account
Responding to
Trump’s $5,000 election pledge: policy dividend or vote-buying?
"no checks have been issued"
The post presents a negative assessment of the pledge's credibility, not a legal conclusion about vote-buying.
Case record
At the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on September 9, 2026, Donald Trump promised $5,000 for each adult American citizen if Republicans retained both the House and Senate. Supporters presented the proposed dividend as a way to share economic gains; critics called the election condition an improper inducement or questioned whether tariff revenue could finance it. Other responses raised narrower questions about timing, cost and whether a broad policy promise amounts to illegal vote-buying.
