Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) crossed party lines and teamed up with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to introduce new legislation Thursday that would pare President Trump’s tariff authority as GOP unease grows.
Under the Trade Review Act, Congress would have to approve all new tariffs within 60 days or they would expire. The legislation comes one day after four Senate GOPers voted to scuttle Trump’s tariffs against Canada.
The measure is modeled after the War Powers Act and also affirms Congress’ authority to quash new tariffs by disapproving them. It also reverses decades of Congress ceding large swaths of tariff authority to presidents under emergency circumstances, which enabled Trump’s suite of them Wednesday.
Grassley, 91, and Cantwell, 66, introduced the legislation even as it faces tough odds of ever becoming law, particularly given how House Republican leadership is squarely behind Trump.
But it signals growing Republican angst over the onslaught of tariffs Trump announced Wednesday as part of his so-called “Liberation Day.”
On Wednesday, the Senate passed legislation introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to claw back Trump’s duties on imports from Canada, thanks to four Republican defections. Grassley was not among them.
Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the four Republicans who voted to nix Trump’s tariffs against Canada.
Even some of the Senate Republicans who voted against Kaine’s measure have signaled deep apprehension about the new tariff regime.
“In the long run, I think it will work. But as I’ve also said, in the long run, we’re all dead,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told CNN. “The short run matters too. And the truth is, I don’t care what the experts say, we do not know yet the impact of these taxes — of these tariffs.”
“Anyone who says there may be a little bit of pain before we get things right needs to talk to my farmers who are one crop away from bankruptcy,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) vented to the outlet. “So we’ve got to be crisp on this implementation.”
“He believes this is exactly what he needs to do. I hope he is right. I hope the naysayers are wrong,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told Semafor.
Trump’s new slate of tariffs affected every country except those that have already been sanctioned and some of the ones that were previously targeted. They include a baseline rate of 10% on all imports from a given country and higher, customized levels for nations with which the US has a trade deficit.
Overall, the new tariffs mark one of the largest peacetime tax increases in US history and are potentially even broader than the infamous 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs, which economists have widely credited for exacerbating the Great Depression.
The most vocal GOP foe of Trump’s tariff blitz has been Paul, who has warned about dire economic and political ramifications from those duties.
“Tariffs have also led to political decimation when [President William] McKinley most famously put tariffs on in 1890, they lost 50% of their seats in the next election. When [Sen. Reed Smoot and Rep. Willis Hawley] put on their tariffs in the early 1930s, we lost the House and the Senate for 60 years,” he told reporters.
Paul, 62, has called Trump’s tariff policy a “mistake” and warned of a brutal impact on everyday Americans.
Others seemed to chalk Trump’s “Liberation Day” policies up to negotiating tactics, despite the president signaling that much of the tariffs will likely be permanent.
“We’re all kind of waiting and seeing — and seeing how the administration reacts and what the ultimate permanent policy might look like,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters.
In the other chamber, Republicans were generally either supportive of Trump’s protectionist shift or largely quiet. Unlike the Senate, the House of Representatives is out of session for the latter half of this week after deadlocking over proxy voting legislation on Tuesday.
“You have to trust the president’s instincts on the economy,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters this week.
A handful of rank-and-file House Republicans praised Trump’s bevy of tariffs as an effort to rebuild American manufacturing.
“I strongly support President Trump’s America First economic policies to strengthen American manufacturing and create millions of American jobs,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement.
“For too long, Americans have suffered under unfair trade practices putting America Last. We will not allow other countries to take advantage of us and we must put America and the American worker first.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has urged House Republicans to reconvene amid the tumult, but that appears unlikely as they scramble to find their way out of the stalemate.
Trump has already taken a victory lap, even as the new tariffs roil markets and have led to widespread concerns from top economists.
“The operation is over!” Trump exulted Thursday morning on Truth Social. “The patient lived, and is healing. The prognosis is that the patient will be far stronger, bigger, better, and more resilient than ever before. Make America great again!!!”
The auto tariffs went into effect Thursday, the 10% baseline tariffs will go into effect starting Saturday and the customized tariffs against individual countries will start next Wednesday.
