GOP-Led House Rejects Trump’s Tariffs on Canada
Category: News & Politics
Via: hallux • 9 months ago • 7 commentsBy: Gavin Bade and Olivia Beavers - WSJ
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON—The GOP-led House passed a resolution Wednesday designed to roll back President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, as a half-dozen Republicans joined Democrats in rebuking the administration’s signature economic policy.
The House voted 219-211 to approve a Democratic resolution that would invalidate the emergency declaration that underpins Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Six Republicans broke ranks with their party in voting for the measure, another setback for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), who couldn’t keep his conference united in support of the president.
Passage of the antitariff resolution sends it to the Senate, which must vote on the issue again despite approving a similar one on a narrow, bipartisan basis last year. If it passes the Senate—where it can advance on a simple majority vote, not the 60 usually required—the measure would move to Trump, who would almost certainly veto it.
The Republicans who voted with most Democrats to end the tariffs were Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Kevin Kiley of California, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Dan Newhouse of Washington, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Jeff Hurd of Colorado. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, a centrist, sided with most Republicans.
Immediately after the vote, Trump said that Republicans who broke rank will face electoral backlash.
“Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform .
Johnson played down the impact of the tariff vote. Trump is “not upset,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “He understands what is going on. It’s not going to affect or change his policy. He can veto these things.”
Congress almost certainly won’t have the votes to overrule a presidential veto—which could require two-thirds of both chambers. But the antitariff resolution nevertheless represents a public repudiation of Trump’s tariffs in an election year and evidence of growing discontent within the Republican Party over Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable trade policies.
The vote represents the second significant loss for Johnson in two days. Republican leadership was unable to pass a procedural measure on Tuesday evening that contained language blocking votes on the tariff resolutions for several months. Johnson argued that any antitariff votes should be put off until after the Supreme Court rules on the legality of Trump’s measure, which is expected by this summer. Massie, Kiley and Bacon sided with Democrats in that vote.
Bacon said he had faced pressure from “everybody” including the White House to change his stance during Tuesday’s vote, with some dangling promises—though Bacon declined to offer specifics.
“I voted on principle. They were trying to wheel and deal a little bit, and I get it, they were trying to do their job. I’m not knocking it,” Bacon told reporters Wednesday. “They were trying to do sweeteners for Nebraska, but I said, ‘What about the other 49 states? This is not about Nebraska.’ ”
Democrats plan more antitariff votes targeting Trump’s levies on Brazil and other nations, which could split the GOP caucus again in coming weeks. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) told reporters the tariff vote shows that Republicans’ “mandate has evaporated because their policies are so unpopular,” and to “stay tuned” for plans on further tariff resolutions.
Lawmakers in the minority party are typically unable to force votes on the House floor. But the tariff vote was made possible by a special provision in the law underpinning Trump’s tariffs—the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—which allows lawmakers to fast-track votes to challenge emergency declarations that justify the tariffs.
In this case, Democrats chose to challenge the Canada levies because Trump based them on the threat of fentanyl smuggling from Canada, despite little of the drug actually coming from the country.
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Oh dear, sanity crawling out from under rug ... may the senate be equally infected.
looks like thumper boy mike johnson is just a few maga retirements away from losing his chair now ...
The picture is quite clear that on a national as well as international level that Trump rules by means of threats rather than good governance.
That, my friend, is the understatement of the year, possibly the decade, lol.
I will take any crack in the slavish devotion to the demagogue and his destructive acts.
He's not?
If the Senate does go along with the House on this issue (and I doubt that they will), Trump is bound to veto it, and Congress does not have a 2\3 majority to overcome his veto. However, what is happening is a sign that due to the upcoming midterms lawmakers are starting to realize that if they don't take their constituents' wishes into consideration they'll be looking for another job.