Warning signs flashed this week that Donald Trump’s tariffs were beginning to destabilize what had, at the start of his term, appeared to be a solid economy. But in Congress, Republican leaders pulled out all the stops to protect his signature trade policy.
The threat appeared in the form of a Senate resolution sponsored by the Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Ron Wyden that targeted the levies and looked like it had a shot at passing a chamber in which the Republican majority had previously shown little inclination of resisting the president. But even before the first votes were cast, Trump and his allies moved to ensure it would go nowhere.
