Senate Republicans Voted Overwhelmingly To Continue Trump’s Trade War
As a legal matter, President Donald Trump’s trade war rests on the claim that imports to the United States constitute an “unusual and extraordinary” threat requiring urgent executive action.
That’s an absurd argument, of course. The fact that Americans choose to buy or sell goods across international borders is not an emergency—it’s not even a minor worry—and certainly should not justify a massive expansion of executive power.
But Trump is going to do whatever he wants until someone stops him. On Wednesday, the Senate had a chance to do that. Instead, Republicans voted overwhelmingly to keep the “emergency” going, and thus to keep the trade war going too.
The Senate voted 49–49 on Wednesday evening to block Sen. Rand Paul’s (R–Ky.) resolution that sought to end the emergency declaration Trump signed on April 2 to impose his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs on nearly all imports to the United States.
“It is no secret that Congress lacks the fortitude to stand up for its prerogatives,” Paul said while speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday in advance of the vote. “I stand against this emergency. I stand against the tariffs. I stand against shredding the Constitution.”
Sens. Susan Collins (R–Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R–Alaska) were the only other Republicans to vote for the resolution, which came up two votes short of passing.
A quick aside about those two votes: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) missed the vote for health-related reasons. It seems likely that he w
Article from Reason.com
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