Daly: Trump's Trade War Was Just Dealt a Significant Blow

Thanks to Democrats and a few bold Republicans.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.)

On Tuesday night, something good actually happened in Congress. Really!

A GOP leadership effort in the House of Representatives to prevent congressional votes against President Trump’s “emergency” tariff agenda went up in flames. It was a big blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, who, in deference to the president, sought to continue nullifying Congress’s proper authority over tariff policy by changing the chamber’s rules. The speaker’s aim was to effectively ban congressional disapproval and debate of Trump’s tariffs until this summer at the earliest.

Prior to the vote, economic historian Phil Magness called Johnson’s initiative “a blatant and egregious violation of his constitutional duties,” adding that the speaker had “plagiarized this tactic from Nancy Pelosi, who invented it in 2021 to prevent Congress from voting on a resolution that would have terminated the COVID emergency declaration behind lockdowns.”

The defeat was made possible by three Republicans breaking party ranks: Don Bacon of Nebraska, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Kevin Kiley of California. They voted with all House Democrats, revealing a political split that would have been unimaginable in the pre-Trump era, when the GOP was the party of free trade, and Democrats were the protectionists.

After the vote, Rep. Bacon, who some have called the last Reaganite conservative in Congress, took to social media:

“I don’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. 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. I also oppose using the rules votes to legislate. I want the debate and the right to vote on tariffs.”

Along with the Constitution, the economic numbers support Bacon.

Even with Trump ratcheting back a number of his tariffs in response to alarming signs of economic instability last year, a recent study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation concluded that the president’s trade war cost U.S. households an average of $1,000 in 2025. (That number is projected to rise to $1,300 next year, if the current tariffs remain in place). Since “Liberation Day,” Americans’ personal savings have dropped by a whopping 37%, and 72,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost. On the agricultural front, 315 U.S. farms filed for bankruptcy last year — a 46% increase from the previous year. Farm income is projected to continue its decline in 2026, despite large government subsidies paid by U.S. tax payers.

It’s uncertain when the Supreme Court will finally rule on President Trump’s legal authority to unilaterally impose broad, sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, but it’s crystal clear that the president continues to sabotage his own absurd argument that his global trade policy has anything to do with an actual “emergency.”

Just this week, Trump bragged to Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow that, last year, he raised his already high tariff rate on Switzerland to 39%, because he didn’t like the tone of the country’s “prime minister” (they don’t have a prime minister) during a phone call. He would later, as I described last year, lower that number all the way to 15% after a Swiss delegation flew to Washington and presented him with high-value gifts including a personalized one-kilogram gold bar.

It should go without saying that Trump’s ego doesn’t (or at least shouldn’t) constitute a national emergency — one paid for by U.S. consumers. But his ego and other self-interests are precisely what have been driving his trade policy.

I remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will eventually put an end to this nonsense, but in the meantime, as a result of Tuesday night’s vote, Democrats can now force unlimited House votes on Trump’s tariffs. This would put congressional Republicans, who’ve thus far remained largely silent on the matter (many of them reluctantly), in quite a bind. With Trump’s trade policy becoming increasingly unpopular with a large majority of Americans, and the midterm elections on the horizon, GOP members may have to finally take a public stand on whether they support or oppose Trump’s trade abuses. They’ll have to choose between lower prices for their constituents, and incurring Trump’s fury and political vengeance, while they shape their reelection platforms.

At minimum, it will be interesting to see what happens.