As the Trump administration suggests that the process ahead for tariff refunds will be drawn-out and and possibly messy, Democratic party leaders are making them an election-year issue.
In a letter sent Tuesday to President Trump from Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat became the latest top Democrat to weigh in, saying the administration "has a responsibility to do everything in its power to ensure that it returns the money it illegally took from the American people."
"It is not too late to reverse course," Warren wrote in the letter, which was first shared with Yahoo Finance.
It's the latest — and perhaps the most pointed — Democratic commentary yet, with Warren writing that Trump's actions to delay refunds, if successful, "would amount to a theft in broad daylight from each and every American family that has paid the price of your failed economic agenda."
Other top Democrats, from Senator Chuck Schumer to California Governor Gavin Newsom, have also weighed in repeatedly in recent weeks to elevate the issue.
A White House spokesperson didn't immediately offer a response to the letter Tuesday night after Yahoo Finance reached out.
No indication that White House intends to pay refunds
The growing political discourse around refunds also came as businesses received a touch of clarity this week after a federal court rejected an initial attempt by the administration to slow the refund litigation process.
Trump's Justice Department wanted to put the refund issue on hold for 90 days "to allow the political branches an opportunity to consider options."
But the judges refused that request and confirmed that the US Court of International Trade in New York will be the clearinghouse for these lawsuits going forward.
Over 2,000 lawsuits are reportedly currently pending — including from companies like Costco (COST), FedEx (FDX), Revlon Inc and others — as they seek to continue a legal process that many expect to take years to play out.
Ted Murphy, an international trade lawyer at the firm Sidley Austin, offered limited assurances in a note to clients on Sunday.
"The administration has not offered any indication that it intends to pay refunds," he wrote. "In fact, the initial indications are to the contrary."
Murphy pushed companies to take additional action — both via the formal administrative process and in potentially filing additional court cases.
At stake could be somewhere in the neighborhood of $175 billion in duties that were illegally collected under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to calculations by the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
Trump, for his part, has floated the idea on social media of a "Rehearing or Readjudication" of the Supreme Court decision though few experts expect the court to reconsider its 6-3 opinion.
Warren's letter followed another recent missive from 24 Senate Democrats, led by Schumer and Senator Ron Wyden, that was addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent which demanded that the administration begin processing refunds automatically.
A similar call recently came from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump antagonist, who said "Time to pay the piper, Donald."