President Donald Trump’s move to bypass the Supreme Court striking down his “Liberation Day” tariffs with a separate but temporary 15% “worldwide tariff” tees up the president for another policy defeat just months before the November midterm elections.
Trump would need the approval of lawmakers to extend the 15% across-the-board rate beyond 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 used to invoke them, putting the president at risk of suffering a summer setback at the hands of a GOP-controlled Congress that largely opposes the tariffs.
With slim GOP majorities in both chambers and some Republicans even celebrating the high court’s ruling against Trump’s initial tariffs, Democrats almost certainly have the numbers to block any attempts at an extension that will come due in July.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) predicted Monday that it will be “a challenge to find consensus” on extending the tariffs.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed his Democratic members “will continue to fight back against Trump’s tariff tax and will block any attempt to extend these harmful tariffs when they expire this summer.”
“Democrats will not go along with furthering Trump’s economic carnage,” Schumer added.
Meanwhile, Trump suggested he could raise the 15% global rate further and claimed that he does not need Congress to levy tariffs, but he did not elaborate on what authorities he could take such actions.
In separate Truth Social posts on Monday, the president said any countries that “’play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff.” He proceeded to post that “As President, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of Tariffs” and mischaracterized last week’s Supreme Court ruling, falsely claiming his tariffs were “just reaffirmed by the ridiculous and poorly crafted supreme court decision!”
Despite its conservative leaning, the court ruled 6-3 that the administration lacked the legal justification under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose its “Liberation Day” tariffs without Congress.
Vocal Republican critics of the tariffs cheered the ruling. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said he felt “vindicated,” while Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said “Congress’s role in trade policy, as I have warned repeatedly, is not an inconvenience to avoid.”
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN TRUMP’S SWEEPING ‘LIBERATION DAY’ TARIFFS
A significant portion of conservatives in Congress privately loathe such sweeping tariff agendas and have advocated the administration to take a more targeted approach. It is unclear what legal avenues the president may feel he has up against a Congress unwilling to grace him with an extension, a move that conservative lawmakers may additionally oppose because it could be seen by voters ahead of the elections as raising prices.
“Donald Trump, in his bubble, does not understand the burdens he’s imposing on American families,” Schumer said in a floor speech. “But we Democrats do, and we will do everything we can to stop these odious tariffs that are causing so much harm, so much pain on American families.”
Rachel Schilke contributed to this report.