Three House Republicans helped thwart a White House push to block lawmakers from moving to terminate President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs until July 31, by which time the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the duties’ legality.
The 214-217 vote Tuesday evening to reject a rule that would bar use of a fast-track disapproval resolution for the tariffs came after House leaders delayed a floor vote scheduled for early afternoon while they tried to pressure Republicans to switch votes.
After the rule’s defeat, which GOP leaders expected after their whip effort fell short, the Rules Committee met again to report out a revised rule minus the tariff provision.
That would allow several unrelated bills to come to the floor this week if adopted, but also opens the door to an onslaught of Democratic tariff disapproval resolutions — starting as soon as Wednesday with an attempt to overturn Trump’s tariffs levied on Canadian goods.
GOP Reps. Kevin Kiley of California, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Don Bacon of Nebraska, who declared their opposition early, remained firm and voted against the rule, joining all Democrats.
Kiley said that he would only flip his vote on the rule, intended to tee up debate on three unrelated bills, if the tariff provision is removed.
“I think that, you know, it doesn’t really make sense to put something on the floor that’s not going to pass,” Kiley said. “A rule is meant to bring a bill to the floor, set the parameters for debate. It’s not meant to smuggle in unrelated provisions that expand the power of leadership at the expense of our members.”
Massie posted on the social media site X Tuesday evening that the law requires Congress to permit a vote on presidential emergencies within 15 days of being declared.
“Today the Speaker is trying to pass a resolution that literally says a day is not a day, just to avoid voting on the emergencies that underpin the tariffs,” he said.
Bacon, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, on Tuesday promoted a new argument against the tariffs on social media.
“This is why Congress needs to debate tariffs,” he wrote, reposting a report that Trump raised tariffs on imports from Switzerland because he didn’t like the way the prime minister spoke to him on the phone.
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., also declared her intent to vote against the rule earlier in the day, but didn’t ultimately follow through on her threat.
“I think it’s the job of Congress to take this vote and decide which tariffs are good, which tariffs are bad, and that’s just we have to take votes,” Spartz said ahead of the vote.
But as she’s done on several other key votes this Congress, Spartz eventually flipped and backed the rule, voting with GOP leaders and the White House.
Once it became clear the other three were immovable, top Republicans focused on trying to keep the number of defections down in the low single digits, holding the vote open for an extended period beyond the allotted five minutes.
They eventually wooed Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., who’s also retiring, into the “yes” column. Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, was another late vote in favor of the rule.
The rule would have prohibited legislative efforts to end tariffs levied under a 1977 law giving the president emergency powers. Four tariff announcements — on Feb.1, April 2, July 30 and Aug. 6 of last year — would be affected.
House Foreign Affairs ranking member Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., the lead author of several joint resolutions of disapproval including on Canadian and Mexican tariffs, criticized Republicans for refusing to allow a vote on Trump’s tariffs.
“My resolutions ending President Trump’s harmful tariffs on Canada and Mexico are due for a vote this week. But the Republicans couldn’t let that stand,” Meeks said during floor debate Tuesday. “They’re trying to change the rules again, and again, and again, and again to do what? To avoid voting on ending Trump’s tariffs.”
After the vote late Tuesday, the Rules Committee approved a modified rule, without the tariff language, that would govern the three bills as well as a fourth that would require proof of U.S. citizenship and photo ID before voting.
No more delays
Republican leadership had been blocking congressional debate on tariffs via rule language for nearly a year as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put a block on such votes first in March and then in April.
But opposition began to mount among Republicans by September. Another resolution blocking tariff votes was nearly rejected on the floor, only surviving when three GOP dissenters flipped their votes at the last minute after Johnson shortened the duration of the ban to Dec. 31, 2025, instead of March 31, 2026.
This time around, Republicans have an even slimmer majority in the House and can only lose one vote if the Democrats all vote together in opposition.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., acknowledged that it would be tough to adopt the rule and said the White House was involved with the effort to flip members.
“Well, the one-seat majority. We know every vote’s tight, and we’re going to be talking to our members.” Scalise said.
Republican supporters of the rule sought to persuade their colleagues that the prohibition would allow the Supreme Court time to issue a ruling on Trump’s authority to levy the tariffs. The court heard arguments in November.
Critics call the tariffs a tax and note that the Constitution gives Congress sole authority to raise revenue.
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., a self-proclaimed “tariff skeptic,” was a holdout on a previous rule to similarly block floor action. But McClintock eventually backed the rule in September, and did so again Tuesday.
“I believe that free trade is the surest path to a nation’s prosperity,” McClintock wrote Tuesday on X. “But with the Supreme Court expected to rule by summer on the constitutionality of delegating tariff authority to the President, I think it would be unwise to alter the status quo until we know the full scope and implications of the decision, at which time Congress can address the matter fully.”
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