House Republicans sought yet again on Tuesday to manipulate the laws of time on Capitol Hill, turning months into a single legislative day in a bid to block any lawmaker from forcing a politically tricky vote on canceling President Trump’s tariffs.
For the third time this Congress, Republicans have quietly tucked language into a procedural measure that would nullify their own chamber’s statutory authority to weigh in on the levies. They pressed their members on Tuesday to support the maneuver, but it was not clear whether they would be able to muster the near-unanimous G.O.P. backing they need amid resistance from some in their own ranks.
The House would ordinarily be required to vote within 15 days on the power Mr. Trump used to impose the tariffs. But by manipulating how long a legislative “day” is, they can in effect ignore the calendar.
The provision would block the chamber from being forced to vote on whether to end the president’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and Brazil until after July 31. The Republicans’ previous effort had blocked action until after Jan. 31, giving Democrats an opportunity to seek a vote on canceling some of the tariffs as soon as Wednesday.
Initially, Speaker Mike Johnson had signaled that he would not renew the rule change. As he bargained with recalcitrant Republicans to muster the votes for unrelated legislation last year, he agreed to narrow the period when it was in effect from March 31 to Jan. 31.
With his minuscule majority, Mr. Johnson can barely afford any defections on reviving the rule change, and some Republicans were expressing skepticism.
“I’m not in favor of changing the definition of a day in order to diminish the power of members of the House,” Representative Kevin Kiley, Republican of California, said in an interview. “I object to smuggling in some extraneous provision that diminishes the power of the House.”
Mr. Kiley said his objection was about protecting congressional authority and did not say whether he would support a challenge to the president’s tariffs.
Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, one of the few Republicans who previously objected to the move, eventually dropped his objections when Mr. Johnson agreed to shorten the window in which tariff votes would be blocked. On Tuesday, Mr. Bacon refused to answer direct questions about whether he would support extending it again.
But he expressed skepticism toward the president’s tariffs in a social media post over their cost to American households.
Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky also is expected to be among the Republicans who could oppose the move, as he has in the past.
Mr. Johnson’s move is a procedural sleight of hand aimed at skirting a law, the National Emergencies Act, that allows the House and Senate to jointly put an end to an emergency declared by the president.
Mr. Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose some of his tariffs last year under the National Emergencies Act. That law allows any member of the House to challenge an emergency by introducing a resolution that must receive a vote after 15 days. The rule under consideration in the House would declare the period between Feb. 10 and July 31 as just one day, meaning that such resolutions would be stuck in a sort of legislative purgatory and not receive a vote during that time.
Robert Jimison covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on defense issues and foreign policy.
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