Criticism Of Trump's Tariff Regime Is Getting A Little More Bipartisan... But Not Nearly Enough Yet

You have probably been reading about Elon Musk and Peter Navarro fighting with each other over tariffs in the last couple of days. It escalated yesterday with Musk calling Navarro a “moron,” “dumber than a sack of bricks” and then apologizing to bricks for being unfair in the comparison.

Perhaps a bigger threat to harmony in Team Trump, though, was when US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testified at a Senate Finance Committee hearing yesterday. It got pretty heated and Alicia Diaz and Catherine Lucey reported that Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who’s up for reelection next year, asked “Whose throat do I get to choke if this turns out to be wrong? I wish you well, but I am skeptical.”

Tillis’ comments were the most pointed from Republicans during a hearing in which Democratic senators aggressively rebuked Greer for Trump’s tariffs.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said he’ll force a vote on repealing the sweeping global tariffs, testing political support for the president’s trade war. A similar earlier effort targeting tariffs on Canada received support from four Republicans.

Other Republican senators expressed concern about potential economic harm to their constituents even as they offered support for the goal of “fairer” international trade arrangements and avoided direct criticism of Trump.

“I hope we can avoid an all-out trade war,” Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana, a close Trump ally, said. “A trade war will mean higher prices for the American consumer.”

Still, Daines praised Trump’s “bold leadership” in confronting other nations to seek trade arrangements that improve prospects for US exporters.

Another Trump supporter in the Senate already raised an alarm that the global tariff increases would damage the party in next year’s congressional elections, saying Republicans are risking a “bloodbath.”

Senator Ted Cruz, an uber-conservative ally of the president, said the tariffs “would destroy jobs here at home and do real damage to the US economy if we had tariffs everywhere,” on his podcast released Friday.

Other Republicans on Capitol Hill also have pushed to regain more congressional authority over import taxes since Trump announced the tariffs last week.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and six other Republicans introduced a measure that would require Congress to review and approve most tariffs within 60 days. The White House said the president would veto Grassley’s measure if it passes.

Meanwhile…

Navigator polling shows that Trump’s approval on the economy is tied for his worst since they started tracking it in 2018 and that the views on his tariffs are continuing to fall. The pollsters also pointed out that most Americans want power over tariffs back in Congress’ hands and out of Trump’s. They report that “Nearly two in three Americans feel uneasy about their personal finances, and roughly three in five say the economy is getting worse.”

Late yesterday, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden and Rand Paul introduced a privileged resolution to repeal Trump’s tariffs and restore congressional authority over them. They let Schumer sign on as well. It forced a floor vote and, according to Warren’s office, “would terminate the emergency that Trump declared in order to slap tariffs of up to 49% on products Americans buy from other countries. In the wake of Trump’s tariff declaration, markets have cratered, manufacturers have laid off thousands of workers and foreign countries have retaliated by slapping their own tariffs on U.S. agricultural and manufactured goods. “The Trump tariffs are economic sabotage,” she said, “and Congress has the power to stop them. Republicans can join Democrats and end this today.” Ron Wyden took it from there: “Trump is driving our economy into a recession, killing jobs and wiping out seniors’ retirement funds as we speak. Enough is enough. No president should have the power to tax everything Americans buy without being accountable to Congress. Unless Republicans join with Democrats and take back Congress’s power over trade policy, the damage could take years to reverse.”

Rand Paul (R-KY) sure is courting Trump’s ire. He said “Tariffs are taxes, and the power to tax belongs to Congress— not the president. Our Founders were clear: tax policy should never rest in the hands of one person. Abusing emergency powers to impose blanket tariffs not only drives up costs for American families but also tramples on the Constitution. It’s time Congress reasserts its authority and restores the balance of power.”