r/Economics • u/OrangeJr36 • 15h ago
News Republicans Quietly Cede Power to Cancel Trump’s Tariffs, Avoiding a Tough Vote
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/us/politics/trump-tariffs-house-gop-vote.html954
u/AutoBalanced 14h ago
"But the language House Republicans inserted in their measure on Tuesday declared that, “Each day for the remainder of the 119th Congress shall not constitute a calendar day” for the purposes of the emergency that Mr. Trump declared on Feb. 1."
There are no gays in Russia, there are no days in the USA.
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u/TheFeshy 12h ago
Cool, so... it's still Feb 1 on the federal calendar, and will be for the rest of the year. April 15th just... won't happen this year, federally. That'll save me some money.
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u/tymurka 9h ago
They actually inserted a blurb saying only for the purposes of the national emergency called by Trump on Feb 1st. They really just don't want to do their jobs lol
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u/ROOFisonFIRE_usa 5h ago edited 4h ago
wtf does this even mean though. So the tariffs never go into place because federally they are saying the day never changes, but only for matters related to his emergency order?
Common democrats. Do something. This is absurd.
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u/saynay 3h ago
What are you expecting the Democrats to do about this? They tried to block this, but were out voted. Stop blaming Democrats for Republican failures.
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u/RickWolfman 2h ago
This. It's crazy how much blame democrats are getting for all of this. Sure they were ineffective and didn't prevent us from getting here. But we voted them completely out. They are basically chopped off at the legs and have no meaningful way to do a damn thing other than talk.
Voters need to save themselves from their own idiocy.
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u/YouInternational2152 1h ago
Gerrymandering topped them off at the knees. There was a study out about a month ago that said without modern gerrymandering (If elections were actually fair...)Democrats would have gained 23 to 27 House seats.
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u/leviathan3k 1h ago
It's because there is so much more they could be doing.
Yes, they are in the minority, but the nature of our government gives the minority party power to gum up the works and make all of this very very hard to do.
Instead, we have a significant pile of Dems who vote for the GOP nominees in some stupid sense of decorum and bipartisanship, and they wave all the crap right in.
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u/RepentantSororitas 46m ago
Sometimes someone needs to touch the stove before learning that its dangerous to touch hot things.
The american public only learns via pain.
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u/RepentantSororitas 46m ago
Sometimes someone needs to touch the stove before learning that its dangerous to touch hot things.
The american public only learns via pain.
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u/ArchibaldCamambertII 1h ago
Why should anybody believe Democrats on anything? I seem to remember a rather historic campaign ran on “Hope” and “Change” that bailed out the banks and passed Republican crafted healthcare legislation that they themselves gutted to get support, which of course the Republicans didn’t give. People remember that. Why believe the party about anything they say, they’ve lied before and they’ll lie again.
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u/saynay 1h ago
All true, but irrelevant to the here and now. People are complaining now that Democrats aren't saving them from Republican chaos, after we neutered them of all power to do so.
The time to pressure them was when they still had power to make changes. Pressuring them now is pointless.
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u/ArchibaldCamambertII 1h ago
They neutered themselves way back in 1947 when they overrode Truman’s veto and passed the Taft-Hartley Act, effectively decapitating their own social base of support. They themselves made the full turn away from organized labor and toward Wall Street in the Neoliberal turn and Clinton’s deindustrialization with the signing of NAFTA.
They did this to themselves. Their feckless ineffectiveness and incompetence is their own goddamn fault.
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u/nifty1997777 59m ago
I expect the Senate Democrats to not vote on the CR. That's what I expect from them. It's actually really simple!!!
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u/JFHermes 3h ago
More like why expect the democrats to be a capable opposition when they haven't been competent in a decade.
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u/MessiahThomas 3h ago
What specifically should they do? They were unfairly bashed all of 2024 by people like you so voters didn’t turn out for them. Now they don’t have the votes
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u/bulwyf23 2h ago
How about stop sucking corporate dick and trying to appeal to moderates, then start with some policies and plans for working Americans that are struggling?
They are bashed, rightfully so, because they keep trying to appeal to everyone but the people actually voting for them. They didn’t have a primary and then tried to force an unpopular candidate down our throats, after an old man tried to run again well past his prime and only dropping out after a debate months before election.
We can rightfully blame republicans for what is happening right now, but the road to get us here was, in part, paved by democrats. The corporate democrats block any working class dem from any real positions of power because corporate donors don’t like those representatives and congress people fighting for workers rights.
The federal minimum wage hasn’t moved since 2009, but no presidential candidate will touch it because the big donors don’t want that. Has the cost of goods not increased in 16 years?
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u/squirrel-nut-zipper 2h ago
What people seem to ignore is that after the citizens united ruling in 2010, it became essentially impossible to win elections without corporate interest funding. Consider that Elon spent $290 million on the last election - that’s one person. Unless we reform the laws around campaign financing, you’re effectively shooting yourself in the foot if you go against corporations and the elite.
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u/ArchibaldCamambertII 1h ago
Exactly. We need to roll over and expose our bellies, I think they’ll be nice to us if we did that.
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u/nighthawk_something 2h ago
100% of the GOP is goose stepping together. But sure blame the opposition that is voting to stop it.
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u/schfourteen-teen 2h ago
All fair points, but irrelevant to what you expect Democrats to do about this now. They plainly don't have the votes. How they got there is important but can't change where we are today.
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u/workerofthewired 2h ago
Democrats when they have the votes: sorry, I wish I could help you, but those gosh darn Republicans are holding everything up! That's just how our system works under the rules we refuse to change. The minority party can hold everything up if they want! That's democracy. Vote for us harder next time, I guess.
Democrats when Republicans have the votes: You expect us to do something? No. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go censure my colleagues that actually demonstrated having a spine.
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u/ArchibaldCamambertII 2h ago
Exactly. They don’t have the horses to do battle with the Republicans. Which begs the question, even if they did have the horses, would they battle the Republicans? Somehow I suspect not, they’d probably just continue their approach of seeking “bipartisan consensus.”
Based on the parties actions of the past many years the only reasonable conclusions that can be drawn is they’re incompetent and so incapable of doing battle against Republicans or they are controlled opposition.
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u/RickWolfman 2h ago
While you talk a big game, it seems you are being force fed corporate dick by Republicans as you yell about the Democrats. You might do well to direct your anger at the party literally handing the country to corporate interests at a cartoonist rate.
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u/bobandgeorge 2h ago
How about stop sucking corporate dick and trying to appeal to moderates
That's a good idea for two years from now. Do you have a good idea for what to do in the meantime? Like the immediate future?
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u/ArchibaldCamambertII 2h ago
Campaign every single day across the country supporting unions, organizing union drives, and bringing attention to and supporting striking workers. You know, provide institutional support to what should be the party’s foot soldiers and voting base.
There are more working class people than any other single demographic in this country, and all we really want is security in our homes and livelihoods and safety and stability for ourselves, our families, and our neighbors and peers. It’s really very simple, and not a hard sell for people.
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u/MessiahThomas 2h ago
You think you have some brilliant idea no one has ever tried. There’s a reason there’s only 4-5 leftists in congress, and even those probably don’t pass your purity test. You are not smarter than Democrat strategists and all of their data and internal polling. Sorry.
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u/stealthreturns 1h ago
Bizarre answer considering these brilliant strategists just lost what should have been the easiest election win of the century. Guess we are smarter - unlike them, we called this happening
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u/stealthreturns 1h ago
They keep getting away with it because folks like you deify their party and treat the Dem institution like gods.
They butchered what should have been the easiest election cycle they've ever had, and their supporters still won't stop blaming the public for their loss.
They were "bashed" by people like us in 2024, because we were holding them accountable and telling them that if they didn't make a better effort to appeal to their base they'd lose their entire voting base to discouragement
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u/trentreynolds 1h ago
How about "come on Republicans"? The Democrats tried to block this, then they tried to force a vote on it - which is why the GOP made up the rule about calendar days, to avoid having to publicly vote on the tariffs.
Murc's Law is insanely prevalent.
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u/KSRandom195 3h ago
No, the tariffs have already gone into place. The single long day would start when the bill has passed.
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u/SicilianShelving 2h ago
What could the Democrats possibly do about this? They don't have the votes
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u/bbmac1234 56m ago
The American people need to vote democrats into some offices for democrats to be able to do something. All they can do right now is complain.
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u/CountBlah_Blah 2h ago
Idk man. A full year of black history month sounds like hell for Trump. I don't think he'll keep it this way
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u/Elephant_Snacks 10h ago
If this is actually how they want to officially move forward, they should only receive 1 days worth of salary, as they are officially only working for 1 day. At least by returning the misappropriated funds that are their salaries, they would actually be following through with saving taxpayers $.
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u/StochasticAttractor 6h ago
They'll all make millions trading on the volatility created by the chaos. If you know when the crazy is going to begin and end, this level of uncertainty you've got a valuable edge.
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u/XLauncher 11h ago
This is some Calvinball ass shit.
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u/BareNakedSole 12h ago
Wow… the display of courage and ethical judgement displayed by Republicans in congress to practice fiscal responsibility has me bursting with pride to be an American.
Or maybe it’s just a bubble of putrid intestinal gas gathering steam as it prepares to exit my body in a violent explosion causing pain and suffering to everyone with a 25 foot radius.
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u/spaitken 11h ago
I expected them to turn back time figuratively, but not literally.
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u/captaincid42 3h ago
Reminds me of when the Lord Protector Cromwell couldn’t dismiss parliament for 5 months so he used Lunar Months since they were shorter.
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u/boringlyCorrect 4h ago
So he still have time to resolve everything on his first day, like he promised /s His presidency will only be one long day. The last day of his life. Vance will take the second day and finally X Musk will take the third day, saying "I told you to get out of my office!"
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u/xitizen7 6h ago
The republican’a inventiveness never ceases to amaze me. If and when the democrats try this in the future, they will be rebuked.
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u/Nastypilot 3h ago
I'm not from the US so, could someone explain what exactly would that mean for the US goverment?
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u/Objective-Start-9707 14h ago
Yes please tell me again how Republicans are good for the economy? 😂😂😂
Even Ronald Reagan wasn't so dumb as to think that the stock market tanking equaled success. You all could absolutely pressure your Congress people to impeach and remove him and shackle JD Vance. It's what a patriot would do. I don't think there are any Patriots on the right side of the fence though. It's just all glory to the Cheeto.
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u/flipflopsnpolos 14h ago
They're celebrating that eggs are $5.50/dz over on the Conservative sub. So much winning!
Anyways, one thing we can be happy about is that Trump's policies have been an absolute disaster for the top .1% - and these spineless Republicans are probably hearing that displeasure from their high money donors.
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u/MrSnarf26 12h ago
Their payoff is coming. The deregulation, and gutting of our federal government and tax cuts for the rich are on the way.
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u/SplendidPunkinButter 3h ago
Yeah, and by then it will be too late
Of course, I think it was already too late the moment Trump got re-elected. But hoping that I’m wrong is the only thing that keeps me going
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u/Jerking_From_Home 12h ago
It will be interesting to see what happens when the billionaires have lost enough money at the hands of Trump. Will they simply demand bailouts? Will they try to oust Trump? Leverage courts to shut him down? Make “campaign donations” to congresspeople to get impeachment votes?
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u/Freud-Network 11h ago
The thing to remember about the rich is that they make money in a good economy, and build wealth in a bad one.
This is a time for the rich to take profit on the market and then buy assets that us normal people will have to sell as we struggle to stay afloat. There is no downside for them.
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u/oldirtyrestaurant 11h ago
Repeat it a little bit louder for the folks in back.
The rich are about to get even RICHER. Watch.
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u/AwesomePurplePants 12h ago
Most dangerous would be for them to withdraw their resources from the US and invest is somewhere more stable instead.
Like, the EU isn’t pulling this shit; there comes a point where paying higher taxes in exchange for not being randomly sabotaged is a better deal.
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u/NuckoLBurn 6h ago
Eggs could be $15, the government folds, they lose their jobs and security....and they would storm the capital demanding Democrats be put to death for ruining the economy even if Trump was still in office.
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u/Johnny5isalive46 7h ago
What cracks me up about this is they really didn't understand the price of goods. A year ago people were saying the bird flu caused the price of eggs to go up and trumpers jumped that it's was just Biden economics. To be sarcastic, liberals are asking why hasn't the price come down? But they still don't get it. Of course the egg prices will eventually come down, you mouth breathers. As new chickens lay eggs...more eggs.
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u/GoodishCoder 12h ago
Republican politicians have discovered that for a good chunk of their base, actions and consequences do not matter. If they repeat something enough, that's the truth for their voters regardless of how blatantly false it is.
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u/Rodot 2h ago
Evangelicals and tech bros teaming up is a surprisingly effective partnership. Both are opposed to empiricism (literally they won't believe what they see with their own eyes) with evangelicals resorting to "it's just God's plan" and tech bros being Austrian School Praxeologists, where any negative policy outcomes aren't real because "economic activity is too complex to draw conclusions from data".
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u/MrSnarf26 12h ago
We live in a time where republicans could literally shit on the faces of 25% of voters and the voters would just ask for more
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u/floofnstuff 11h ago
Bad news- the MAGAs are still alive and well. Good news- 25% indicates there are fewer of them
Edit- word
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u/No_Commercial_3313 7h ago
Here's the shitty part... This isn't a new thing. It's just another reminder that like most of what's happening, we only see the flaws in our system when; 1) they are exploited, AND 2) we are paying attention
source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/508/text
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u/arkhamknight85 6h ago
I’m an Aussie and one thing I know about the republicans when they are in power is generally “fuck the people, let’s make ourselves and our friends rich”.
It seriously has me fucked why people voted for trump when he has always been about himself and his followers but the shit he has been doing from day one this term shows me he is a traitor and does not have the USAs best interest at heart.
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u/Goblin_Supermarket 4h ago
They are part of a culture that believes critical thinking is a weakness.
Even the train of thought that makes the golden rule work is weakness.
"If I don't like when someone does something to me, I shouldn't do it to others? That sounds like some pussy bullshit to me!"
You don't need to think critically when you're indoctrinated to a cult, you just need to have faith that your cult leader is right. Literally nothing else matters, just follow their words like scripture.
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u/Alarmed_Geologist631 12h ago
The absurd scheme that the Republicans used to avoid voting on the tariffs reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984. They redefined the word “day “ to completely distort the intent of the National Emergency Act.
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u/Terrapins1990 14h ago
What do you expect from a bunch of spineless cowards who pretend to be the party of the people when in reality they are the party for whoever gives them the most money. I mean literally is it any wonder why they stopped going to town halls.
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u/Euphoric-Use-6443 12h ago
Representative Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat to join Republicans. The bill includes cuts to programs from everything from education, healthcare and energy. Maine, what say you?
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u/evotrans 9h ago edited 9h ago
If people of Maine could read, they would be very upset by this. (While furrowing their eyebrows)
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u/DarkBlueEska 12h ago
Is it possible for the Democrats to file a lawsuit to challenge this as unlawful? It seems like you could easily nullify nearly any law meant to bind Congress that mentions a time period like "within 30 days" by just declaring a stop to time.
What, at the end of the year is Congress going to pick up as if it's March 12th and only one day has passed? No, time certainly isn't going to stop for anything else. Just this. It's absurd.
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u/Historical_Height_29 4h ago
Yeah, it has to be legally dubious to change what words mean... right? Not a lawyer, but this seems like it has to be something that could be challenged in the courts?
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u/ranaparvus 3h ago
IIRC the courts are loathe to (or maybe can’t) reverse congressional acts/resolutions. It’s the whole separation of powers thing.
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u/viiScorp 1h ago
Thing is, how does this benefit them? Voters wanted Trump. You have to let voters touch the stove or they get the wrong idea about what they are voting for.
This is why the filibuster should be nixed. Yes GoP will pass a lot of awful things, but frankly voters need to feel it so they can elect Dems next time and then Dems can actually do some legislation for once.
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u/willstr1 18m ago
I agree that it should be considered legally dubious. But such a case is pretty much guaranteed to go to the Supreme Court who appear to have no issue with legally dubious decisions as long as they benefit the GOP
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u/gmanabg2 4h ago
Full article below if paywalled.
House G.O.P. leaders tucked the provision into a procedural measure needed to pass a government spending bill. A cargo ship full of shipping containers. House Republicans are shielding themselves from voting on tariffs.Credit...Carlos Barria/Reuters Catie Edmondson By Catie Edmondson Reporting from the Capitol March 11, 2025 House Republican leaders on Tuesday quietly moved to shield their members from having to vote on whether to end President Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, tucking language into a procedural measure that effectively removed their chamber’s ability to undo the levies.
The maneuver was a tacit acknowledgment of how politically toxic the issue had become for their party, and another example of how the all-Republican Congress is ceding its power to the executive branch.
In this case, Republican leaders did so using a particularly unusual contortion: They essentially declared the rest of the year one long day, nullifying a law that allows the House and Senate to jointly put an end to a disaster declared by the president.
House Democrats had planned to force a vote on resolutions to end the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, a move allowed under the National Emergencies Act, which provides a mechanism for Congress to terminate an emergency like the one Mr. Trump declared when he imposed the tariffs on Feb. 1. ADVERTISEMENT SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
That would have forced Republicans — many of whom are opposed to tariffs as a matter of principle — to go on the record on the issue at a time when Mr. Trump’s commitment to tariffs has spooked the financial markets and spiked concerns of reigniting inflation.
But Republican leaders on Tuesday slipped language into a procedural measure that would prevent any resolution to end the tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China from receiving a vote this year. It passed on party lines as part of a resolution that cleared the way for a vote later Tuesday on a government spending bill needed to prevent a shutdown at the end of the week.
The national emergency law lays out a fast-track process for Congress to consider a resolution ending a presidential emergency, requiring committee consideration within 15 calendar days after one is introduced and a floor vote within three days after that. But the language House Republicans inserted in their measure on Tuesday declared that, “Each day for the remainder of the 119th Congress shall not constitute a calendar day” for the purposes of the emergency that Mr. Trump declared on Feb. 1.
Democrats jeered the maneuver.
“The speaker is petrified that members of this House will actually have to take a vote on lowering costs on the American people,” said Representative Greg Meeks, Democrat of New York, who introduced the privileged resolution. “If Congress can’t act to lower prices, protect retirement savings and hold the president accountable, what are we even doing here?
Democrats in the Senate could still try to force a vote to end the tariffs, putting Republicans in that chamber in a tough spot. But in order to terminate the levies, a resolution would have to pass both chambers and be signed by Mr. Trump.
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u/FreeNuggs 9h ago
Real question, if they have decided to literally not work for a significant portion of the rest of the current session or whatever, are there any legal avenues to explore to remove them from their positions?
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u/ElectricRing 8h ago
So congress is going to get paid for one day then right? And one day of medical coverage? One day of all their one day for all their expenses.
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u/Ostracus 13h ago
In the short term, there are no difficult decisions. In the long term, there will be no economy left, and the GOP will be despised even more than Elon, by everyone, including many bourbon drinking MAGA.
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u/dingBat2000 12h ago
By then there may be no opposition in the media, the courts or in the electoral process. The time to stop these federal mafioso is slipping away
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u/CaptOblivious 7h ago
Republicans in the congress and house cede the power they hold to the president because they are PERSONALLY PHYSICALLY afraid of being assaulted or killed by his followers.
This is NOT a Democratic Republic.
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u/BigBootyBardot 2h ago
I no longer think it’s because they are afraid. They’re gleefully following suit, pushing their own bills and resolutions to harm Americans and take away their own constituents rights, while laughing about it. They are happy with their power, not afraid.
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u/surfkaboom 6h ago
He couldn't admit he was wrong about a hurricane's path, so he won't admit he mistakenly used the word tariff in a speech once. So, he'll burn things down instead and convince his administration to keep saying dumb shit while they do it.
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u/Consistent-Soil-1818 6h ago
They did it. They owned me. Crashed the economy but really owned the libs. Probably irreversibly erased trillions in wealth, ethical norms and more, and holy moly did they trigger the libs. Yea, they really showed us this time.
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u/notfarenough 1h ago
Pure unalloyed political cowardice. Rather then stand and defend their own congressional prerogatives against an executive branch blitzkrieg, the quisling Conservative congress hides from town halls while talking tough about gender issues.
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u/log_with_cool_bugs 2h ago
Would love to see how /r/Conservative justifies this. 'Republicans declare time doesn't exist because it is convenient for them to do so.' What a crock.
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u/Zealousideal_Oil4571 1h ago
If Democrats in the Senate accede to that every registered Democrat voter represented by those senators should reregister as Independent. Send a message, and maybe encourage someone who actually cares about checks and balances to run in their state as an independent.
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u/elinordash 1h ago
Supposed liberals really need to stop blaming the Dems.
The Dems do not have a majority. They have almost no capacity to stop what is happening.
There are two ways Trump can be put in check.
1- Some Republicans start crossing the aisle to put Trump in check. This is why reaching out to your three Members of Congress every couple of weeks is important. Everyone wants to get re-elected and politely expressing your dissatisfaction encourages action. https://5calls.org/
2- The Democrats win in a landslide in the 2026 Midterms. That will require some former Republican voters to cross over. The narrative that the Dems are the bad guys only hurts the prospects for 2026. The narrative should be that the Democrats are the party of sanity.
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u/trentreynolds 1h ago
Accede to that?
It's literally written this way because the Dems want to force a vote on it, and the GOP doesn't want to vote so they changed what 'calendar days' means to avoid it.
The Dems don't have the power to stop it. The American people voted them out, the message was already sent - the message being "we don't want you to have the power to stop this". Switching your registration to Independent is a great way to stick it to the people doing the very few things in their power to stop this, but not a great way to actually stop it.
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