In February, Warner and Kaine introduced the Tariff Refund Act of 2026, legislation that would require U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to quickly refund Trump’s illegal tariffs and prioritize the interests of small businesses when doing so.
Support legislation requiring U.S. Customs and Border Protection to quickly refund Trump's illegal tariffs and prioritize small businesses in the refund process.
Occurrences
Evidence
The article says the Tariff Refund Act of 2026 would require CBP to refund unlawfully collected IEEPA tariffs with interest, prioritize small businesses, and lists Mark Warner among the Senate cosponsors.
AP reported that CBP's tariff-refund system was already operating, with $90 billion in claims accepted for processing and $23 billion directed to Treasury for refunds, while an appeal still limited access for older claims.
Assessments
The promise was to support legislation mandating tariff refunds and prioritizing small businesses, not necessarily to singlehandedly enact the refunds. Evidence indicates Warner was a Senate cosponsor of the 2026 Tariff Refund Act, which specifically required CBP to refund unlawfully collected tariffs with interest and to prioritize small businesses. That matches the pledged action closely, so the promise is best scored as delivered in the same term. The later AP report that refunds were being processed but remained contested does not undercut delivery here, because Warner's promised contribution was legislative support and he provided it.