Trump Tariffs Face House Rebuke as Johnson Fails to Block Votes

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(Bloomberg) — House lawmakers could vote as soon as later this week on whether to reject some of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, ahead of a midterm election focused heavily on anxiety over the US cost of living. 

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The votes — starting with a resolution opposing the president’s tariffs on Canada — are set to come after lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a last-ditch effort from House Speaker Mike Johnson to prevent them.

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Johnson, one of Trump’s top allies in Congress, has led a legislative blockade for months to insulate Trump’s tariffs, pushing procedural rules that effectively prevented the House from ending the president’s sweeping tariff authority. A fresh Johnson-backed measure would have extended that ban through the end of July.

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Yet Democrats and a trio of Republicans rejected the attempt at another delay. The GOP defectors were Representatives Thomas Massie, who often splits from the president, California’s Kevin Kiley and Don Bacon, a retiring centrist from Omaha.

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Democrats have latched on to Trump’s tariffs as a key campaign messaging point ahead of a midterm election cycle focused heavily on affordability. The party has pointed to the duties as a driver of inflation and escalating the cost-of-living crisis.

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The Republican-controlled Senate is already on the record as opposing the tariffs, voting last year to pass legislation to abandon the White House emergency global tariffs, as well as the duties on Canada and Brazil. 

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Passage of similar legislation in the House — likely given the GOP’s tiny majority if it ever came up for a vote — would represent a major, if largely symbolic, rebuke to the president. 

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House Republican leaders, in an effort to prevent that, moved to block tariff votes last year despite a small revolt among some GOP lawmakers that was quelled by promises of regular talks over the impact of Trump’s trade policies. 

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The speaker told Republican lawmakers in recent days that the House shouldn’t hold any such votes until the Supreme Court rules on whether the president exceeded his authority when he used an emergency law to impose global tariffs.

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It wasn’t immediately clear what House Republican leaders’ next steps would be. Options include tweaking the language of the tariff vote rule and seeking another procedural vote, or pivoting and aiming to limit losses on future tariff-specific legislation.

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Even if the House does eventually vote to reverse Trump’s tariffs, it’s unlikely they would be able to force the president to relent. 

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That’s because joint resolutions need to be signed by the president into law, or Congress would have to muster a two-thirds vote in both chambers to overturn his veto. 

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However, adverse votes — especially in an election year — would heap political pressure on Trump to change course.

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