How serious are congressional Republicans about blocking Trump's Mexico tariffs?

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

published 5 June 2019

Senate Republicans emerged from a meeting with two Trump administration officials on Tuesday frustrated about President Trump's looming tariffs on all Mexican imports and threatening to block them, for real this time. A few hours earlier in London, Trump had said it would be "foolish" of Republicans to block his tariffs, set to take effect next week, but several GOP senators said they have the votes to not only thwart them but also overcome an expected veto.

Senate Republicans were also frustrated because the two envoys, White House Deputy Counsel Pat Philbin and Assistant Attorney General Steve Engel, wouldn't say how Trump plans to justify imposing tariffs under a law, the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), that doesn't mention tariffs and has never been used to levy them or sanctions an ally like Mexico. And not all protestations were iron-clad calls for defying Trump.

To use the IEEPA, Trump would either have to declare a new "national emergency" or use the one he declared to build new border fencing — Congress voted to block that declaration but didn't have enough votes to override Trump's veto. And even if the Senate mustered a two-thirds majority to thwart the tariffs, more than 50 House Republicans would be needed to override a veto in the House, and that is seen as unlikely.

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Still, Republicans are growing weary of Trump's erratic and unilateral use of tariffs, especially for an unrelated issue like immigration. Trump "is trying to use tariffs to solve every problem but HIV and climate change," Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) complained in the meeting, Politico reports. "A lot of Republican members of the Senate are tariff weary," said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). "It's like, anything but tariffs." Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), whose state would be the hardest hit by the import tax, said, "We're holding a gun to our own heads." The GOP is hoping Trump and Mexico work this out first.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.