GOP To Change House Rules To Prevent Themselves From Blocking Trump's Tariffs [View all]

Source: Huff Post

Apr 9, 2025, 02:46 PM EDT


WASHINGTON – Republicans are changing the rules of the House on Wednesday to prevent Democrats from forcing a vote on stopping President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) slipped language into a procedural measure that would bar action on legislation aimed at terminating the national emergency that Trump declared to impose his worldwide tariffs. The move is a remarkable show of fealty to Trump, whose tariffs have rattled global stock markets and caused profound anxiety even among Republicans, who have traditionally favored free trade policies rather than protectionism. It’s also an embarrassing display of Republicans weakening their own roles as legislators.

“I’ve made it very clear, I think the president has executive authority,” Johnson told the Wall Street Journal in response to a question about the rules change. “It’s an appropriate level of authority to deal with the unfair trade practices — that’s part of the role of the president is to negotiate with other countries,” he said. “Right now, as recently as last night, he told me I think they’re almost 70 countries that are at some stage of negotiation of more fair trade agreements with the United States.”

Trump himself seemed to be having second thoughts about destroying the global economy: he abruptly announced Wednesday that he’s scaling back tariffs on all countries, except for China. But Republicans are still moving forward with preventing themselves from intervening in his plans, as destructive as they may be. Ahead of the procedural vote, Democrats ripped their GOP colleagues for being too scared to take on the president’s recklessness.

“A vote for this rule is a vote for Trump’s tariffs,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). “Anyone who claims to want to retake congressional authority over trade and tariffs must vote against this rule.” “Republicans are hiding from taking a vote that would put them on the record on tariffs,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said on social media. “They should be standing up for you, not rolling over for Trump.”

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-rules-change-trump-tariffs_n_67f6a344e4b01be203957673