Steve Globes
WASHINGTON (AP) — As stock markets tumble in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s drastic tariffs, Republicans in Congress were watching with uncertainty and talking about robbing the power to collect tariffs, but didn’t seem prepared to turn words into action.
Republican presidents have overturned years of GOP principles like supporting free trade, but despite clear uncertainty and constitutional orders deciding tariffs, most lawmakers were not ready to cross Trump. Instead, they paid all their attention to moving forward with the “big, beautiful bill” of the president’s “large and beautiful bill” tax deductions and spending cuts.
As the fallout from Trump’s announcement echoed in the global market, Senate majority leader John Tune made it clear he’s not a tariff fan, but he told Trump “gives the benefit of doubt.”
“The president is a deal maker, if nothing else, and he intends to continue dealing with each and every country and country,” said Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, who is no. 2 GOP Senate Leadership. He told Senate Republicans this week that Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent announced tariffs that Trump would be “a high-level mark with the ultimate goal of reducing them” unless other countries retaliate.
But countries like China have already retaliated with their own tariffs, and while the president has shown he is open to negotiations, he was in a rebellious tone on Friday. He was on the golf course on Friday near the Mar-a-Lago Private Club in Florida.
However, Congress was uneasy.
A handful of Republicans have denounced Trump’s strategy as a stupid way to burden American households. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, a longtime senator who was the standard rep for past generations of Republicans, has issued a lengthy statement that “as I always warn, tariffs are a bad policy and trade wars with partners hurt the people who work.”
McConnell and three other Republicans worked with Democrats this week to pass a resolution to override Trump’s tariffs in Canada, sending rebels to the president hours after his “liberation date” announcement. But House Speaker Mike Johnson quickly showed that he was not interested in voting for the resolution.
The legislators’ action struggles have shown disparities among Republicans who are mostly stalwart of Trump’s strategy regarding trade policy. Rather than paying attention to the traditional doctrine of free trade, they advocate “American first” protectionism, which hopes that it will revive American manufacturing.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said workers in his hometown of Missouri are “absolutely excited” by the tariffs. “We’ve lost jobs left and right. Farmers want to see fair deals in our products in both Canada and Mexico and (the European Union),” he added.
Democrats have denounced Trump’s tariffs as a reckless manipulation that is not just about raising money for the tax credits Trump and Republicans are trying to pass.
“Why would he increase the costs of an American family by $5,000? Because his extremely wealthy billionaire friend wants a bigger tax credit,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Friday.
Other Democrats challenged more Republicans to stand up to Trump. “If they really believe in capitalism, they need to vote where capitalism is, and that means competition is good, and our world relations work,” Senator Amy Kulbucher D-Minn at a press conference.
“Donald Trump is retreating us to Great Repression,” she added.
Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who holds the libertarian economic view, is extremely critical of tariffs and warns it is causing the same economic problems that have exacerbated the Great Repression. He asks Congress to reject Trump’s plan with laws that require Congressional approval of taxes on imports.
Other Republicans were looking for a roundabout way to check the president’s power over trade policy. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican in Iowa, introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that called for the president to justify new tariffs on Congress. Lawmakers must approve customs duties within 60 days. Otherwise it will expire.
Grassley emphasized that he had been working on the idea for a long time, but the timing of the bill was well-known. It gave Republicans the opportunity to talk about their dislike of import taxes and raised the prospect of Congress retaliating some of its power over tariffs. The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to establish taxes and tariffs, but over the last century, lawmakers have given over much of their power to control import taxes on the President.
A handful of Republicans said they were favored by Grassley’s proposal, but the idea of direct opposition to Trump appears to be suppressing the possibility of quick action.
“I don’t want to do that in a politically charged environment,” said Sen. Mike Round, a South Dakota Republican. “But I absolutely agree. This was set up to make the founder a Congressional role, and we think it’s far beyond the point of what the founder wants to happen.”
Democrat Sen. Brian Schatz grabbed by reluctance from Republicans and said that if the Senate overwhelmingly abolished or restricted on Friday it would be overwhelmingly abolished or restricted, “if all senators voted for conscience and national interests.”
“Most people hate this. They’re too afraid of the crazy king at this point,” Schatz added.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, also predicted that the bill would not pass “due to Senate voting requirements.”
But he still told social media: “Taxes are like whiskey. Under the right circumstances, a small whiskey can be refreshing, but in the wrong situation, it can be as intoxicating as a goat.”
Associated Press writer Kevin Freaking contributed
Original issue: April 4, 2025, 4:10pm EDT
