Three House Republicans cross party lines to block effort to shield Trump from challenges to his tariffs
By Veronica Stracqualursi, Alison Main, CNN
(CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson failed to reinstate a ban on lawmakers’ ability to challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs when three Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats.
The House sank a procedural vote on Tuesday that contained language blocking votes in the chamber that object to Trump’s tariffs through July. The move opens the door for Democrats to move forward with forcing votes to repeal Trump’s tariffs, in a blow to the administration.
With razor-thin margins in the House, three Republicans – GOP Reps. Thomas Massie, Don Bacon and Kevin Kiley – were enough to sink the vote. Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote to advance legislation with his current margin.
The Senate has passed at least three resolutions rebuking Trump’s tariffs, but routinely ran into resistance in the House where members were blocked from forcing votes on the matter.
Bacon said in a statement posted to X, “I don’t like putting the important work of the House on pause, but Congress needs to be able to debate on tariffs.”
The Nebraska congressman went on to say, “tariffs have been a ‘net negative’ for the economy and are a significant tax that American consumers, manufacturers, and farmers are paying. Article I of the Constitution places authority over taxes and tariffs with Congress for a reason, but for too long, we have handed that authority to the executive branch. It’s time for Congress to reclaim that responsibility.”
GOP leaders had argued that lawmakers should allow the Supreme Court time to weigh in.
Speaker Johnson acknowledged the challenges he faces holding together his razor-thin majority after the failed vote.
“Look, this is life with a small majority. I mean, you know, I need unanimity every day, and we didn’t get it tonight,” he told reporters.
“The vast majority of the House Republicans agree wholeheartedly with the president, and we’re going to give him the latitude to continue his trade policy,” he said.
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