At least a dozen House Republicans are considering signing onto Rep. Don Bacon's (R-Neb.) bill to restrict the White House's ability to impose tariffs unilaterally, Axios has learned.

Bacon told Axios that two Republicans — Reps. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) — and two Democrats have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.

He added: "I have 10 others who want to do it but they want to talk to the trade representative first."

The bill would cause any tariffs a president institutes to expire after 40 days unless Congress votes to pass a resolution of approval.

It would also give Congress the ability to pass a resolution of disapproval to eliminate the tariffs at any time.

More than half a dozen Senate Republicans have co-sponsored an identical bill from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Some House Republicans who have said they are otherwise inclined to support the bill, however, have cited Trump's veto threat as a reason not to.

Bacon said he is in no rush to mount a concerted push to bring it up for a vote but isn't ruling out an eventual effort to force it to the House floor.

Bacon said "there is a prospect" that he ends up introducing a discharge petition — a procedural maneuver that, if signed by 218 members, can bypass leadership and force a vote on any bill.

Posted by John3262005

6 Comments

  1. Secret-Ad-2145 on

    >Some House Republicans who have said they are otherwise inclined to support the bill, however, have cited Trump’s veto threat as a reason not to.

    Good news, you can override it if you fuckers do your job and vote!

  2. Okbuddyliberals on

    Iirc they’d need around 70 representatives to override a veto, so this is going nowhere

  3. I called my Republican rep yesterday to add to the tally against the tariffs. If there’s an issue they might be swayed on, it’s this one.

  4. Anal_Forklift on

    I think these Republicans will correctly fold when the impact of tariffs starts to hit consumers. They aren’t even in effect yet and there’s already 12 defections.

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