Vice President JD Vance went to Capitol Hill late Wednesday to run a tiebreaker in the Senate, killing bipartisan efforts to condemn President Donald Trump’s trade policy.
Earlier in the evening, the Senate rejected the resolution, which would effectively block Trump’s global tariffs by revoking the emergency order the president used to enact. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse failed the resolution 49-49.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune then took action to ensure that the tariff opponents could not make a resolution later, forcing Vance to force the U.S. Capitol to end the matter. It marks the second time the Vice President has used his authority to win.
During his second term, Trump has placed historic tariffs on various import volumes. He imposed a 10% tariff on almost everything entering the United States. A 25% tariff was imposed on steel, aluminum, automobiles, and many items from Mexico and Canada; and a minimum of 145% tariff was signed for most Chinese goods imported to the United States in the most important trade action to date.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine jointly proposed a resolution to block tariffs, arguing that Vance had to break the tie with the support of the resolution defender.
“Their silly attitude toward this tariff is so bad that it’s so devastating that they’ll take the vice president to completely own it. It’s great, let them do it. Let them do it.” “The American public needs to know who to blame for it. They show that to everyone tonight.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also attacked Republicans for preventing future votes, saying: “Thune and Republicans are working to keep Trump’s tariffs in place.”
Republican GopSens. RandPaul co-sponsored the resolution, with Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joining the Democrats to vote for the resolution, but they were unable to bring together the ballots they needed to adopt it in Wednesday’s key absence.
If McConnell wasn’t in the weather, he would vote for it.
“The Senator has been consistent in opposing tariffs, and the trade war is not in the best interest of American households and businesses. He believes that tariffs are tax increases for everyone,” his spokesman said.
Even without critical absences, no resolution was adopted, which died upon arrival at the house. There, Speaker Mike Johnson incorporated a rule earlier this year into a rule that prohibits the consideration of the measure until September 30.
The Senate moved earlier this month, symbolically condemning Trump’s tariffs on Canada, with House Republicans employed the same procedural strategy to ensure solutions cannot be considered in their rooms.
The president has remained provocative in the face of Congress criticism and has previously rejected any such resolutions if necessary.
This title and story have been updated with other developments.
Dave Goldman of CNN contributed to the report.
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