Scoop: A dozen House Republicans mull defying Trump on tariff bill
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Rep. Don Bacon leaving a House Republican conference meeting on March 25. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
At least a dozen House Republicans are considering signing onto Rep. Don Bacon's (R-Neb.) bill to restrict the White House's ability to impose tariffs unilaterally, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: It's a significant break with President Trump, who has threatened to veto the bill should it pass Congress.
- Bacon told Axios that two Republicans — Reps. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) — and two Democrats have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.
- He added: "I have 10 others who want to do it but they want to talk to the trade representative first."
The details: The bill would cause any tariffs a president institutes to expire after 60 days unless Congress votes to pass a resolution of approval.
- It would also give Congress the ability to pass a resolution of disapproval to eliminate the tariffs at any time.
- More than half a dozen Senate Republicans have co-sponsored an identical bill from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
Zoom in: A House Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid immediate backlash from the White House identified themselves to Axios as one of the GOP lawmakers who plans to co-sponsor the bill.
- The lawmaker told Axios that while Trump's tariffs have had positive effects, they are also hitting farmers in their district hard.
- "It's right there in the Constitution — we can have a bill to make it more specific — but Congress has a responsibility too to watch this," the House Republican said of the legal merits of Bacon's bill.
- Some House Republicans who have said they are otherwise inclined to support the bill, however, have cited Trump's veto threat as a reason not to.
What to watch: Bacon said he is in no rush to mount a concerted push to bring it up for a vote but isn't ruling out an eventual effort to force it to the House floor.
- "I don't think it's likely for this next month, maybe two months. I want that bill sitting there, and as we study the stock market, inflation, unemployment, this may be a viable way," he said.
- Bacon said "there is a prospect" that he ends up introducing a discharge petition — a procedural maneuver that, if signed by 218 members, can bypass leadership and force a vote on any bill.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the bill would cause any tariffs a president institutes to expire after 60 days (not 40).
