Senate GOPers Are Sweating, But Likely Won't Act, As Trump Threatens Trade War
By Alice Ollstein | March 6, 2018 4:14 pm
President Trump’s seeming declaration of a protectionist trade war, which already has ally nations threatening retaliation, has Republicans on Capitol Hill in a sweat.
But while some are agitating for the passage of a bill that would curtail the White House’s power on trade, others say the caucus lacks the political will to openly defy the President. Instead, most GOP lawmakers are urging their pro-free trade allies in the administration to coax Trump back from the ledge, and are crossing their fingers that the famously flexible President changes his mind so no action on their part is necessary.
“I think we ought to look, going forward, at what a President can do and we maybe ought to define or box him in,” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) told reporters Tuesday. “But I seriously question whether you’ll have enough Republican senators who want to cross the President in this way.”
A bill introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) would require the White House to seek congressional approval for any unilateral trade actions, such as the tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum recently threatened by Trump. But the legislation has been stuck in committee for more than a year, and despite near-unilateral opposition among Republican lawmakers to Trump’s move, they say it’s unlikely to be revived any time soon.
“I think it’s unfortunate that Congress has ceded way too much authority to the President when it comes to tariffs,” complained Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Tuesday, telling reporters that the topic did not even come up during the caucus’ weekly policy luncheon. “We should take back some of these constitutional powers that Congress has willingly given away. These types of decisions should come before Congress to be ratified.”
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