Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) gives a thumbs up as he arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura | Getty Images
President Donald Trump says he does not need Congress to impose tariffs, but his recent attempts to impose new import duties could trigger difficult votes for Republicans ahead of midterms. And Democrats are vowing to disrupt attempts to extend Trump’s trade policy.
Shortly after the Supreme Court spiked a majority of Trump’s tariffs on Friday, the president doubled-down and issued another round using Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. That statute caps rates at 15% and requires congressional authorization for an extension beyond 150 days, creating the potential for a difficult vote on an unpopular issue for congressional Republicans in the midst of election season.
“I’m freaked out about it. Because every poll shows that American voters are against tariffs at a 2-to-1 ratio. The president has latched on to a very unpopular policy,” said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., one of six Republicans who voted earlier this month to strike down Trump’s 35% tariff on Canadian imports.
The Supreme Court’s decision, which struck down tariffs Trump issued using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, dealt a massive blow to Trump’s economic agenda and could change the dynamics of the fight in Congress over the president’s signature trade policy.
Democrats have tried to connect Trump’s tariffs to affordability — and the role they say tariffs have played in rising prices — as they map out a plan to continue fighting Trump’s tariff agenda in the coming months.
“Senate Democrats will continue to fight back against Trump’s tariff tax, and will block any attempt to extend these harmful tariffs when they expire this summer. Democrats will not go along with furthering Trump’s economic carnage,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. D-N.Y., said in a statement on Monday.
While Democrats hold little power without control in the House or Senate, the success of any future vote to extend his Section 122 tariffs or expand the president’s power to impose his trade policy is far from certain as GOP frustration builds.
“In a razor-thin House majority, that legal rebuke gives Republicans more cover to break ranks, especially on issues with direct economic consequences for their districts,” said Brittany Martinez, executive director at Principles First who worked for Speaker Kevin McCarthy. “As we move toward the midterms, we’re likely to see more members prioritize the rule of law and local impact over party pressure.”
New pushback to Trump on trade
“I was in the cloakroom and I heard people saying ‘I don’t like tariffs but I voted no,'” Bacon said, recalling the night of the House vote. “I expect that if people were left to their own devices, without pressure, I think the number would have been five or six times higher. But obviously it’s a big priority for the president, so people struggle with it.”
Some of the GOP defectors, like Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., framed their opposition as a win for checks and balances. “Last week’s vote by Congress and today’s Supreme Court decision represents precisely that give-and-take envisioned by the Founders,” Kiley posted to X on Friday.
Bacon, who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, pointed to a recent Tax Foundation study that said Trump’s tariffs amounted to a $1,000 average tax increase for American families in 2025. He also cited analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that found U.S. consumers and firms are shouldering nearly 90% of the tariff burden. Both should be “red flags,” he said.
But any perceived act of defiance against the president could have consequences.
Trump over the weekend withdrew his endorsement of Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Colorado Republican who voted to overturn Trump’s Canada tariffs. Hurd faces right-wing primary opponent Hope Scheppelman, who Trump is now endorsing.
“When I took office, I swore an oath to the Constitution and to the people I serve. Every vote I cast is guided by what is best for this district and the long-term strength of our country,” Hurd posted to X the day after Trump’s attack.
Tariffs could be ‘hard sell’ in election year
How obedient will the congressional GOP be to Trump in an election year?
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced the Canada tariffs disapproval resolution and had planned to force additional votes to strike down other of Trump’s import duties.
The Supreme Court decision changed that strategy, but Meeks said future votes on the topic of tariffs generally could go poorly for Trump.
“I think that that will only be a continuing result as we move forward and continue to look at what Trump is doing, because what he’s doing is hurting the American people,” Meeks said.
Bacon predicted that bipartisan efforts to legislatively reassert Congress’ constitutional authority over tariffs could gain steam, pointing to a bill he introduced last year, which as of Monday had eight bipartisan cosponsors. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash, led a companion in the Senate, which has 13 cosponsors, also a bipartisan group.
On Monday, a group of Senate Democrats, led by Ron Wyden of Oregon, released legislation that would force Customs and Border Patrol to issue tariff refunds to importers and small businesses. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., introduced similar legislation in the House on Friday, though neither has a clear path to passage as long as Democrats are in the minority.
Republicans in theory have latitude to expand Trump’s tariff authority or legislatively impose import duties. Some, like Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, suggested Republicans “get to work immediately on a reconciliation bill to codify the tariffs that had made our country the hottest country on earth!”
But “patience is wearing thin on the tariff front,” John Feehery, a Republican strategist at EFB Advocacy and a former aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, said in an interview last week.
“It’s a pretty hard sell if you’re from a farm state or a place that exports equipment overseas,” Feehery said.