Three Republicans side with Democrats to restore House ability to overturn Trump tariffs

House lawmakers, for the first time since President Trump implemented sweeping tariffs, now can use their authority to end the emergency declarations he used to justify the import levies on a whole slew of countries.

Three Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Kevin Kiley of California and Don Bacon of Nebraska, joined all Democrats on Tuesday in thwarting an effort from GOP leaders from renewing a moratorium on such votes that expired at the end of January. 

House Democrats planned to force a vote this week to overturn Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canada, prompting GOP leaders to try to reinstate the ban through July 31.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said the rationale was to give the Supreme Court time to rule on a case it has pending on the issue. 

During oral arguments in November, justices across the ideological spectrum raised concerns about the constitutional implications of Mr. Trump going around Congress and using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977 as justification to impose tariffs. 

“I think the sentiment is that we allow a bit more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch,” Mr. Johnson said ahead of the vote, predicting Republicans would be successful in extending the moratorium on votes to overturn the tariffs because “the president’s trade policies have been a great benefit to the country.”

The National Emergencies Act gives lawmakers the power to overturn any national emergency a president declares with passage of a joint resolution of disapproval.

Such resolutions are privileged, meaning any lawmaker can force a vote. Senate Democrats have done so on multiple occasions and succeeded in passing a resolution to overturn Trump’s  tariffs on Canada. 

But the measure went nowhere since the House had temporarily turned off its authority to bring forward such resolutions. 

Mr. Johnson on Tuesday sought to use a procedural rule needed to bring unrelated legislation to the floor to renew the tariff vote moratorium through July 31. 

Several House Republicans balked at the premise of voting a third time to undermine their own authority and threatened to block the rule. 

While Mr. Johnson won over some skepticals during a seven-hour delay in the vote, it was not enough with his narrow majority. The vote to extend the moratorium failed, 214-217.

The House Rules Committee will now have to report out a new rule to bring legislation to the floor, since three bills Republicans want to vote on this week were tied up in the same rule as the tariff vote moratorium. 

Mr. Bacon said he doesn’t like “putting the important work of the House on pause, but Congress needs to be able to debate on tariffs.”

“Tariffs have been a ‘net negative’ for the economy and are a significant tax that American consumers, manufacturers, and farmers are paying,” he wrote on X. “Article I of the Constitution places authority over taxes and tariffs with Congress for a reason, but for too long, we have handed that authority to the executive branch. It’s time for Congress to reclaim that responsibility.”

The last time the House voted to extend the moratorium in September, GOP leaders convinced Mr. Bacon to flip his vote from no to yes, but he was not swayed this time. 

Mr. Kiley and Mr. Massie both opposed the previous extension.  

Mr. Massie called the convoluted way in which GOP leaders executed the moratorium – declaring a “day is not a day” to prevent lawmakers from reaching the allotted time in which they can bring forward resolutions to overturn the tariffs – “smoke and mirrors.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee,  said ahead of the vote that he hoped the rule would be defeated so Democrats could bring forward resolutions to end the emergency justifications for Mr. Trump’s tariffs. They plan to start this week with overturning the tariffs the president placed on Canada, one of the largest U.S. trading partners.

“We are supposed to be a separate and equal branch of government oversight, so it should not be a Democrat or Republican issue,” Mr. Meeks said. “Either it’s an emergency or it’s not. If it’s an emergency, the president should demonstrate it. He’s not been able to do so.”

Mr. Meeks said the tariffs are driving up the cost of living and Republicans should consider their constituents’ concerns or face the consequences in November. 

“You see the results of some of these state legislative elections recently in strong Republican districts, those folks are starting to speak out,” he said. “I think those are warning signs to them that they need to do what the right thing is, and not just follow the president and his wayward ways.”

Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, slammed Mr. Johnson’s move to continue shielding his members from voting on the tariffs as “disgusting.”

“He has such contempt for this body that he won’t even let us debate these issues and vote on these issues,” he said. “I get it — he’s afraid of Trump. But at some point he’s got to grow a spine and stand up for the people in this chamber.”

Mr. McGovern said a lot of Republicans told him they were shocked that the speaker tried to sneak another moratorium through the chamber. 

He said any Republican telling their constituents they are concerned about the tariffs but who support the effort to prevent Congress from voting to overturn them are “full of s—.”

Democrats early Tuesday were not sure enough Republicans would help them block the rule. 

“Time and time again we have seen our Republican colleagues say that they’re going to oppose something … and then the vote opens and an hour later they end up caving for some pinkie promise that they receive from the speaker and the leadership team,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California said. 

GOP leaders did convince some holdouts, like Rep. Tom McClintock, who said he remains a “tariff skeptic” but agreed with the argument of continuing the moratorium until the Supreme Court rules on the issue. 

“I think it would be unwise to alter the status quo until we know the full scope and implications of the decision, at which time Congress can address the matter fully,” Mr. McClintock, California Republican, said. “It is said that ‘Time is a great thickener of things.’”