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House Democrats are encountering a new obstacle as they try to drive a wedge within the GOP on tariffs: Their potential Republican allies aren’t moving in their direction.
Even before President Donald Trump paused many of his tariffs on Wednesday, his opponents were running into procedural roadblocks as House Republican leaders shut off a tool Democrats could use to force quick floor votes objecting to the levies. But Democrats quickly embraced another route, relying on a “discharge petition” that requires 218 signatures to force action on their proposals to roll back the tariffs.
In order for a discharge petition to work, though, at least five Republicans need to sign on. And the GOP’s most prominent tariff skeptics, as well as battleground-seat members, are holding back.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is gathering support for his own proposal that would sunset, in 60 days, any tariff that lacks backing from Congress. He has some Democratic support, but Bacon told Semafor that he hasn’t committed to backing Democrats’ maneuver.
“I don’t know if we’re to that point yet,” Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., told Semafor about backing the Democratic discharge petition. “Give it time. We’ll see. It could come to that, but I don’t think it’s there right now.”
Another Republican who’ll be a top target for Democrats in the midterms is unequivocally not on board. “Absolutely not,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz, said when asked about joining Democrats’ effort.
Their odds of success with a discharge petition went down after Trump’s tariff pause, which came after a week of swooning markets and frustrated members on both sides of the aisle. But Democrats are defining success differently when it comes to their discharge petition strategy: It’s less about winning on the floor than it is about calling attention to Republican fealty to Trump’s chaotic approach.
To that end, they rolled out a sweeping new anti-tariff proposal on Thursday led by Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., who pointedly played down recent cases of Democrats who watered down their message on Trump by staying friendly to tariffs as a concept.
“Democrats are pretty united in terms of needing to reassert our authority, Congress’ authority, and to limit his power,” Sánchez told Semafor.
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The discharge petition strategy is being led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who will introduce three separate ones that address Trump’s more recent broad-based tariffs, as well as his earlier tariffs on Mexico and separately, Canada. The latter mirrors legislation already passed in the Senate.
Neither petition can get acted upon, even with the necessary signatures, until 30 legislative days have passed; that usually works out to be closer to three months.
Democrats are looking to capitalize on the momentum in the Senate after a handful of Republicans joined Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., to oppose Trump’s tariffs on Canada. After House GOP leadership turned off the power to force a vote in the short term, Democrats turned to a discharge petition; despite skepticism from Bacon and others at the moment, they’re optimistic enough to look ahead to a vote overturning a guaranteed Trump veto.
“The way [the economy] it’s tanking as quick as it’s sinking under this president, then I would say anything is possible,” Meeks said about the option of overturning a veto.
Kadia’s view
Democrats’ growing anti-tariff push may have slim chances of getting the GOP buy-in it needs, but it’s arguably their most cohesive legislative strategy so far to push back against the Trump administration.
No matter the handful of Democratic outliers on trade, the party has been able to coalesce around an effective message that “tariffs are taxes.” With prices of consumer goods expected to rise even after Trump’s pause, thanks to 125% tariffs on Chinese imports, it’s a slogan that will play well into the midterm season as Democrats try to regain the House.
“We want to put everybody on the record,” Sanchez said. “Are you going to stand up for Congress’s jurisdiction as a co-equal branch of government, or are you going to continue to allow this chaos and this cronyism?”
They’re already plotting follow-up efforts on that front. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., told Semafor he’d call for an investigation about Trump’s post on social media about buying stock just before the tariff pause got announced.
Room for Disagreement
Not every Democrat is satisfied with party unity given how few legislative tools they have. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., whose state shares a border with Canada, has been meeting with constituents concerned with rising prices for months — and wants a more forceful strategy.
“I think we need a huddle on the Dem side about every possible parliamentary move, even if it’s far-fetched, even if it only slows things down for a little bit,” Balint told Semafor. “It’s trench warfare.”
Notable
- There were mixed feelings among members about Trump’s whiplash tariff actions, Time reported.