Will Congress step in? Don’t hold your breath
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told American senators on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration will not change tactics on tariffs in the near term and warned that some pain for businesses will be necessary to bring home manufacturing jobs. During a sometimes tense U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing, Greer said higher across-the-board tariff rates on 57 trading partners would go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday.
It was a tall ask: getting about 70 Republican House members and 20 senators to pass an anti-tariff bill with a veto-proof majority.
It’s looking even taller after a couple developments today — so tall, it’s barely worth discussing.
First, Republican leadership in the House is pushing forward a rule that would prevent emergency debate on this until September.
Second, Republicans are toeing the line in a House hearing with the U.S. trade representative.
If they hold any reservations, they’re keeping them to themselves.
“I really applaud what you’re doing,” Pennsylvania Republican Mike Kelly told Trump’s trade czar, Jamieson Greer, celebrating the effort to rebalance imports and exports.
“I applaud the president of the United States for having the backbone to stand up and fulfil a pledge … [others] have done not a damn thing about.”
Remember the politics here: all House members must stand for re-election every two years, meaning they’re always at risk of a primary challenge. Senators have a bit more latitude to challenge their party leader, as they only face election every six years.
It’s revealing that members closest to an election are still clinging, in public, to Trump. What it also reveals? No mass rebellion appears imminent.
