Congress wants to take back control of tariffs

'The potential economic damage from tariffs is so great that some are already rebelling'

(Image credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)

published 14 April 2025

"Why is a president imposing tariffs at all?" asked Jessica Levinson in MSNBC.com. Lost in the chaos of President Trump's global trade war is the fact that the Constitution grants Congress—not the executive branch—the "Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises" and regulate foreign commerce. But since the Great Depression, the legislature has "ceded much of its authority to the president," letting the White House set tariffs without congressional approval. Trump has overstepped the considerable powers delegated to him by Congress, said Rich Lowry in the National Review. He claims that 1977's International Emergency Economic Powers Act lets him unilaterally impose import duties "to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat." The U.S. trade deficit is neither: We've been running one since the 1970s, making it "the very definition of a chronic issue." And if the concern really is national security, as Trump claims, why are we slapping tariffs on "Australian beef and Guatemalan bananas," neither of which affects "our ability to make precision missiles."

"Normally, we wouldn't hold our breath" waiting for congressional Republicans to rein in Trump, said The Boston Globe in an editorial. "But the potential economic damage from tariffs is so great that some are already rebelling." Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to introduce a bill that would require any new tariffs to be approved by Congress within 60 days. At least six other Republicans—including Kentucky's Sen. Mitch McConnell and Indiana's Sen. Todd Young—have signed on to the legislation. The Grassley-Cantwell bill is likely dead in the water, said Jordain Carney in Politico. House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed "to give the president space" on tariffs, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the bill doesn't have "a future" because Trump has threatened to veto it.

What a "dereliction of duty," said Jeet Heer in The Nation. Trump's sweeping tariff regime "could lead to a crash comparable to 1929 or 2008." But among GOP lawmakers, "the fear factor is paramount": They know that challenging Trump could invite retaliation and primary challenges from the MAGA faithful. "The dereliction of duty is bipartisan." Ten Democratic senators last month voted for a continuing resolution that not only passed a GOP budget but also included a provision making it harder to undo the kind of emergency declarations Trump has used to justify his tariff power. The rest of us will pay for Congress's "political cowardice."