At least three Senate Republicans are poised to mark President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” escalation of his trade war by formally rebuking a key piece of his tariff strategy. Trump is fighting back.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski revealed Tuesday that she will vote for a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine that would end the national emergency Trump is using to levy a blanket 25 percent tariff on Canadian imports. She joins Sen. Rand Paul, who co-sponsored Kaine’s resolution, and Sen. Susan Collins, who said she is “very likely” to support it when it comes up for a vote that’s expected Wednesday.
If the trio follows through, Vice President JD Vance will have to be on hand to break a tie to help the Senate GOP block it. Sens. Chuck Grassley — one of many farm-state Republicans concerned about the Canadian tariffs — and John Cornyn were noncommittal Tuesday about how they might vote. The measure is likely DOA in the House in any case.
But Trump isn’t letting it go. In a 12:58 a.m. post, Trump urged Murkowski, Paul, Collins and Sen. Mitch McConnell to “get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change.”
“To the people of the Great States of Kentucky, Alaska, and Maine, please contact these Senators and get them to FINALLY adhere to Republican Values and Ideals,” Trump said.
Ahead of Trump’s Wednesday afternoon Rose Garden event marking his next round of tariffs, the GOP dissent on the Hill represents a significant political rift in the party about the sweeping economic consequences of his sometimes-unpredictable trade policies.
As POLITICO reported Tuesday, many “Wall Street traders, lawmakers, industry leaders, foreign officials and even some members of the president’s team see only dread” ahead of Trump’s big announcement.
“Part of that is Trump’s negotiating style, to keep people he’s negotiating with, other countries, off balance. But he himself has said there’s going to be short term disruption, so of course people are concerned about that,” said Sen. John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican who plans to vote against the resolution.
“We’ll have to see if it works,” he added.
What else we’re watching
— Trump, Thune huddle on the budget: Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Budget Republicans will meet with Trump Wednesday morning as they try to convince fiscal hawks to back a budget blueprint that would unlock the president’s sprawling legislative agenda. Senate Republican leaders are sticking with their plan to try to approve a budget this week, even as they scramble behind the scenes to lock down the votes. Several GOP senators are withholding support and say they don’t yet understand the strategy.
— Good news, bad news for Johnson: After a day of chaos in the House, a pair of Florida special elections to replace former Reps. Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz went the GOP’s way — but had some warning signs for Republicans ahead of the midterms. While Speaker Mike Johnson’s majority is intact for now, he’s poised to face further fallout in the coming days over his failed attempt to derail Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s push to allow proxy voting for new parents.
— Crypto vote: House Financial Services Republicans on Wednesday are set to advance landmark cryptocurrency legislation that would create new rules for stablecoins. After that, they will have to reconcile their approach with similar legislation moving in the Senate.
