Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sends bill for $8.68 billion refund to Trump after Supreme Court tariffs ruling
Gov. JB Pritzker is demanding President Trump refund the state of Illinois more than $8 billion after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his sweeping reciprocal tariffs Friday.
The court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
Now, businesses are pressing the Trump administration to issue tariff refunds, and Gov. Pritzker has joined in their call.
In a letter to Mr. Trump that Pritzker shared publicly, he wrote, "Your tariff taxes wreaked havoc on farmers, enraged our allies, and sent grocery prices through the roof. This morning, your hand-picked Supreme Court Justices notified you that they are also unconstitutional.
"On behalf of the people of Illinois, I demand a refund of $1,700 for every family in Illinois. There are 5,105,448 households in my state, bringing the total damages you owe to $8,679,261,600."
"This letter and the attached invoice stand as an official notice that compensation is owed to the people of Illinois, and if you do not comply, we will pursue further action."
Pritzker also released an invoice already marked "Past Due – Delinquent" and with a note, "Illinois families paid the price for illegal tariffs – at the grocery store, at the hardware store, and around the kitchen table. Tariffs are taxes and working families were the ones who paid them."
On Saturday, a spokesperson for the White House responded to Pritzker, saying in part, "The immense weight of Illinois's sky-high taxes and regulations is matched only by JB Pritzker's own personal bloat."
The spokesperson added if Pritzker "really cared about delivering economic relief for Illinois, he'd start with his own state government."
Pritzker is among President Trump's most vocal critics, and the two have clashed frequently. Last year, as Mr. Trump announced he was sending the National Guard and federal agents to Chicago for immigration enforcement, Pritzker demanded he back down, saying: "Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here, nor needed here."
After Mr. Trump suggested using cities like Chicago as military "training grounds," Pritzker compared him to Russian president Vladimir Putin and called for invoking the 25th Amendment.
"There is something genuinely wrong with this man, and the 25th Amendment ought to be invoked," Pritzker said at the time.
President Trump also posted on Truth Social in October that Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson "should be in jail!"
Pritzker shrugged off the comments, saying, "Look, he's a coward. He says a lot of things to the camera. He likes to pretend to be a tough guy. Come and get me. Come and get me. He's demented, literally; unhinged. This is somebody who is so insecure that he lashes out, pretending that he can come arrest people for no reason at all. He can't. He isn't going to do it. TACO – Trump always chickens out."
The Trump administration has regularly singled out Illinois among the Democratic-led states that it has abruptly cut off from federal funding for programs from public health and HIV prevention to childcare and social services.
