Congressional Cowards is a weekly collection highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—irrespective of how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
Almost all the things is about to get costlier, retirement financial savings are being washed away, and economists say a recession is perilously shut—and it’s all because of President Donald Trump’s ill-conceived “Liberation Day” tariffs.
However do not count on congressional Republicans to avoid wasting you.
Republicans are, for essentially the most half, cheering the insane tariffs that Trump positioned on practically each single nation on the planet (apart from Russia, after all).
“President Trump is bringing again Made in America,” Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia wrote on X.
And Republican Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas made his stance clear—standing firmly behind Trump’s new coverage.
“I am behind the president 100%. There might be disruption and ache on the entrance finish, we noticed that within the first time period, however he was profitable then, he might be profitable now, and Individuals will win,” he mentioned in an interview with CNBC.
“Look, you need to belief the president’s instincts on the financial system,” Home Speaker Mike Johnson advised reporters on Tuesday.
Fellow Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, echoed this sentiment.
“I’m, at this level, giving the president the good thing about the doubt on this,” he advised the information outlet NOTUS.
And GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa confidently advised NOTUS that “President Trump has a plan. We’ll go along with that.”
Different Republicans are plainly admitting that the tariffs are going to trigger Individuals ache, but they’ll’t articulate what that ache is in service of.
“There’s completely going to be short-term ache. I imply, if you are going to rework your home to make it higher ultimately, it is gonna be actually annoying within the short-term,” Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana mentioned on CNN.
And GOP Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma mentioned nearly the very same factor.
“I really feel like in some methods within the financial system that is kinda like a kitchen rework or a toilet rework. There is a little bit of a multitude in the beginning however everyone has a long-time look of the place we’re headed. It may be noisy for a short time, however everyone knows the place we’re headed,” he mentioned on CNN.
To offer credit score the place credit score is due, there are some Republicans who’re taking a stand in opposition to Trump’s tariffs.
Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in voting to rescind Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
“At this time I voted to terminate the emergency declaration put in place to justify larger tariffs on Canadian imports. Whereas not all Canadian commerce practices are truthful, I’m keenly conscious of the destructive impacts in retailer for Alaskan households and companies ought to tariffs drive up the prices of important items,” Murkowski wrote on X.
And Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa launched a invoice with Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington to rein in Trump’s tariff powers by requiring a president’s tariff coverage to get approval from Congress.
“For too lengthy, Congress has delegated its clear authority to control interstate and international commerce to the manager department. Constructing on my earlier efforts as Finance Committee Chairman, I’m becoming a member of Senator Cantwell to introduce the bipartisan Commerce Assessment Act of 2025 to reassert Congress’ constitutional position and guarantee Congress has a voice in commerce coverage,” they mentioned in a information launch.
However it’s unlikely that the invoice will move within the Senate, not to mention within the Home. And even when it did, Trump would absolutely veto it.
Until Trump admits that his tariffs are harmful to Individuals and scraps his chaotic commerce coverage, it seems to be like his tariffs are right here to remain.
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