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The tariff landscape is even messier than before on Capitol Hill, after the Supreme Court knocked down President Donald Trump’s use of economic emergency powers to enact sweeping levies.
Officials in both parties are studying the president’s unprecedented use of Section 122 tariffs and how Congress can respond. After 150 days, lawmakers would have to weigh in on the new 15% levies to keep them intact, but some doubt they will.
“It’s unclear at this point, because it’s so fresh and we haven’t taken up the issue,” Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., told Semafor. “Typically, Congress has handed that off to the president. But it’s certainly within the congressional right to do so.”
Democrats are sure Republicans need 60 votes to extend the duties and are vowing to block them. But there’s some uncertainty about the procedure — since it’s never been tested before.
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The law says the tariffs imposed under Section 122 can last only 150 days “unless such period is extended by Act of Congress.” Because there is no explicit language in the law about how Congress would extend the Section 122 tariffs, Democrats believe that an “act of Congress” constitutes regular lawmaking.
That means that 60 votes would be needed to end debate on any legislative extension. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was confident enough in that supermajority requirement to vow Monday to “block any attempt to extend” the tariffs.
But some Republicans have other ideas for workarounds. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said he wants to raise the rates on longstanding tariffs that are already approved by Congress up to the levels Trump would like — and use that increased revenue to make some more of Trump’s tax cuts permanent.
He called for using the party-line budget reconciliation maneuver to do that, saying, “If we can’t get 50 votes, it’s an indictment of the Republican Party.” Budd agreed that another reconciliation bill would be a “worthwhile use of our time.”
Notably, the end of the emergency tariffs — which Trump enacted using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA — does deprive Democrats of some control over the levies’ future. They would’ve been able to use expedited procedures to bring up those IEEPA tariffs every few months and rebuke Trump with a simple majority, an opportunity they no longer have.
Notable
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said over the weekend that the Section 122 tariffs would likely provide a “five-month bridge” while the administration studies other authorities to impose the tariffs.