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Trump’s tariffs are crashing the stock market, and have sent the nation reeling. In the Senate, Democrats scored a big win on Wednesday as four Republican senators joined with them to pass a bill opposing tariffs on Canada.
Senate Democrats see an opening, and they are going for it.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Semafor on Thursday that he’s drafting a plan to force a vote on nixing the national emergency Trump declared Wednesday, which would effectively scrap the across-the-board tariffs set to kick in Saturday. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., says he plans to lead a related effort to force a vote in the House.
It’s not yet clear whether Kaine and Meeks would get even equivalent support to the quartet of Republicans who backed the Virginian’s similar resolution against Canada tariffs on Wednesday night. But one senior congressional Republican is conspicuously on the record with his own tariff rebuke: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, joined Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to release a new bill that would require lawmakers to sign off on all new tariffs.
And most urgently, Democrats are plotting to force votes on tariff-related amendments to the Senate Republicans’ budget resolution as soon as Friday.
Trump is currently using a national emergency loophole to impose the tariffs. If the loophole is rescinded, Trump’s tariffs would go away. Sen. Kaine might be able to get his legislation passed, but it might take a discharge petition to force a vote in the House, and the Senate would have to have at least 67 votes to override an almost certain Trump veto.
Republicans are ready to split apart on the tariff issue. Democrats are going to force them to vote on amendments involving the tariffs beginning on Friday.
If the market keeps sliding and prices continue to rise, the pressure is going to grow on Republicans to break with Trump and save themselves and their seats in 2026.
Democrats now have an unexpected amount of leverage because of Trump’s self-own, and unlike on the continuing resolution, Democrats aren’t waiting around. Senate Democrats are taking the fight to the GOP.
What do you think of Senate Democrats making their move? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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