When it comes to Donald Trump’s tariffs agenda, congressional Republicans have followed a multistep process. The first step unfolded about a month ago, when several GOP lawmakers, largely behind the scenes, tried to nudge the White House to rethink the president’s plan.
When this didn’t work, Republicans lawmakers moved on to the second step, which involved asking the White House to consider broad exceptions and exemptions from Trump’s tariffs agenda, in the hopes of shielding their constituents from some of the consequences of the administration’s self-imposed crisis.
This, of course, didn’t work, either, which opened the door to Step Three: Eyeing legislation that would derail Trump’s tariff plans and shift greater control to Capitol Hill.
There was some movement along these lines on Wednesday night: Just hours after the president unveiled his tariff plans, a majority of the Senate, including four Republicans, voted to invalidate Trump’s Feb. 1 emergency declaration, which the White House used to impose tariffs on Canada.
A day later, NBC News reported on a broader and even more notable legislative effort.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a Trump ally who is third in line to the presidency, introduced a bill with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on Thursday that would reassert Congress’ authority and slap restrictions on the president’s power to levy tariffs. The legislation, called the Trade Review Act of 2025, would require the president to notify Congress of new tariffs within 48 hours of imposition, while providing his reasons and an analysis of the impacts on American consumers and businesses. Then Congress would have 60 days to approve it. If it does not, the tariffs would expire after that period.
This legislation would need 60 votes in the Senate to advance, but the number of proponents is growing quickly: By Saturday, the number of GOP co-sponsors of the bill had gone from one to seven. In addition to Grassley, Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana signed on to the bill.
Meanwhile, in the House, not only are there ongoing efforts to approve the Senate-backed measure related to Canada, but Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska is championing a House version of the bipartisan Trade Review Act that’s pending in the Senate.
For those hoping to see lawmakers step up, all of this is likely to seem encouraging, and for good reason: GOP lawmakers have spent the last few months acting like Trump’s doormat, so these bills related to tariffs represent a step in the right direction. But the fact that the legislation exists doesn’t mean that it will pass. Indeed, it’s not yet clear whether the GOP leaders in either chamber would even let the bills reach the floor for a vote. What’s more, even if the legislation were to pass, it would face a likely presidential veto — and overriding a Trump veto would require two-thirds majorities in both chambers, which would be an exceedingly heavy lift. Or put another way, it’s good to see congressional Republicans advancing to Step Three, but Step Four — actually doing something to rescue Americans from the White House’s destructive economic agenda — remains on the horizon.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
