Donald Trump is facing a wave of congressional attacks on his signature economic policy after Republican rebels blocked a ban on resolutions challenging the president’s tariffs.
For the past year, House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly introduced procedural rules that prevented members from opposing Trump’s crushing—and often arbitrary—tariffs on products from dozens of U.S. trading partners.
On Tuesday, Johnson asked the House to extend the ban through August.
But three Republicans—Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Kevin Kiley of California, and Don Bacon of Nebraska—sided with Democrats to defeat the measure 217-214, Politico reported.
The blockade was designed to protect Trump from losing his favorite geopolitical cudgel—and to shield Republican representatives from having to take politically difficult positions during votes on tariffs.
Voters and business leaders have soured on the tariffs, which have contributed to job losses, higher prices, and reduced domestic manufacturing. The duties are a form of import tax paid by American companies, which must either eat the additional costs or pass them along to consumers.
The vote was expected to be razor-thin, in part because some congressional Republicans were still holding out hope the Supreme Court would eventually strike down the tariffs, easing voters’ concerns while avoiding a confrontation with the president, Punchbowl reported.
House Republican leaders spent most of Tuesday whipping votes for the procedural maneuver, arguing that any “disapproval” vote should wait until after the Supreme Court’s ruling, which could come as late as July, according to Politico.
Trump himself appeared to be undermining that effort, though, as he bragged to Fox Business host Larry Kudlow that he increased the tariff rate on products from Switzerland because he “didn’t really like the way” the country’s female leader talked to him.
The comments, which aired Tuesday, seemed to be referring to Karin Keller-Sutter, who held the country’s rotating presidency in 2025.
“This is why Congress needs to debate tariffs,” Bacon wrote on X.com alongside a clip of the interview.
Democrats could force a vote as soon as this week on resolutions disapproving of Trump’s tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico, followed by resolutions targeting tariffs on products from Brazil and then other global trade partners.
The Canada vote in particular would be a difficult one for Republicans and would require the White House’s intervention, Johnson told Punchbowl earlier this week.
While Trump could ultimately veto any resolution reining in his trade wars, a rebuke from Congress would nevertheless be politically damaging.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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