Scoop: Senate Dems launching last-ditch bid to block Trump tariffs
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Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 13, 2025.
Senate Democrats on Wednesday will mount a last-ditch effort to block President Trump's tariffs from taking full effect at the end of this week, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Democrats, who argue Trump's tariffs could add $2,400 to the average American household expenses, are making signs of economic angst a centerpiece of their 2026 midterm messaging.
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on Wednesday evening will ask lawmakers to unanimously pass a bill affirming that the tariffs can't be authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Axios has learned.
- That's the law the administration is citing as giving it the authority to impose the levies.
- Friday is the date when tariffs rise for dozens of countries, as threatened by Trump in letters earlier this month. Many are lower than the rates he first imposed in April, though some are higher.
Driving the news: It will take just one lawmaker to block Shaheen's move, and Republicans will almost certainly do so. But it gives Democrats the opportunity to get Republicans on the record in support of the tariff hikes.
- Shaheen's move comes one day before a federal appellate court hears arguments on whether to overturn a lower-court ruling that the IEEPA tariffs were illegal.
Zoom out: The unanimous consent request is part of broader anti-tariff push that Democrats will hold on the Senate floor on Wednesday evening, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Shaheen will lead a half dozen Democratic senators in highlighting the impact the duties will have on working families.
- "And now, on Friday, the Administration is planning to make the goods businesses and families need 10, or 30 or even 40 percent more expensive overnight," Shaheen will say, according to remarks shared with Axios.
- Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) will join Shaheen.
