Press Releases

U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA), who serve on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, today issued a joint statement on a House vote on a provision hidden in a Republican rule that would effectively surrender congressional power over raising taxes and tariffs on the American people to Trump. The vote comes on a day when Trump announced huge new tariffs on one of America’s closest allies, amid widening economic damage from his chaotic trade policy.

Beyer and DelBene said:

“Every House Republican who votes for this measure is voting to give Trump expanded powers to raise taxes on American households through tariffs with full knowledge of how he is using those powers, and every Republican will own the economic consequences of that vote. It speaks volumes that Republicans are sneaking this provision into a procedural measure hidden from the American people.

“Today Trump is further endangering the U.S. economy and hiking prices on the American people by increasing his destructive and pointless tariffs on Canada. There can be no doubt about how he will use the power Republicans are about to give him, and about the disastrous economic effects we have already seen from Trump’s tariffs. While he babbles about making Canada the 51st state, your groceries and housing are getting more expensive and your retirement accounts are getting crushed- and House Republicans are supporting him every step of the way.

“The Constitution delegates authority setting tariffs, which are taxes, to Congress, and Congress retains the power to stop Trump from wrecking our economy. Yet House Republicans are choosing to surrender the power of their own votes to a reckless president, putting politics over the country and their constituents. We will continue urging our colleagues to come to their senses and save our economy from Trump’s tariff chaos.”

Many of President Trump’s tariffs, including the across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico, have been imposed under the guise of “national emergencies” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Exercise of those authorities requires the declaration of a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act, which also creates an expedited process (50 U.S. Code § 1622) allowing Congress to terminate such declaration of emergency. The Republican rule providing for floor consideration of the government funding bill (the “CR”) contains a provision that would remove the expedited consideration of a recently introduced House resolution to terminate Trump’s February 1 national emergency declaration that provided the legal basis for these tariffs.

DelBene and Beyer previously introduced the Prevent Tariff Abuse Act and the Congressional Trade Authority Act to rein in Trump’s abuses of tariff powers under IEEPA and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, respectively.