President Donald Trump‘s unilateral tariffs, which have thrown the economy into chaos, and his efforts to keep Chinese spyware TikTok from operating in the United States beg the question: Does Congress even exist?
Sadly, only a handful of congressional Republicans have voiced support for returning the tariff power to Congress, where it belongs. Starting in 1934 and proceeding through the 1970s, Congress delegated more and more of its tariff powers to the presidency. Some congressional Democrats have raised the possibility of bringing these tariff powers back to the halls of Congress. However, we all know Democrats only view Congress as relevant when they don’t have control of the White House.
Republicans have no such excuse. They are supposed to be the party of the Constitution, federalism, and shrinking federal and executive powers. This would be a great time to take powers back from the presidency, with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and with Trump’s economically illiterate view of tariffs and trade deficits setting the GOP up for failure in 2026.
Then there’s Trump’s open flouting of the TikTok divestment law passed by Congress. A bipartisan majority in both chambers passed a law requiring TikTok to cut ties with Chinese Communist Party-aligned ByteDance or be removed from U.S. app stores. That law required the divestment by Jan. 19 and offered the president the power to grant one extension of no more than 90 days only if there was progress on a “qualified divestiture.”
Trump gave TikTok a 75-day extension from that first deadline despite no evidence that it was anywhere close to being sold. The new deadline was last Saturday, but on Friday, Trump granted a second 75-day extension, which was not permitted under the law Congress passed.
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Yet, Congress has sat silently as Trump has openly defied its power. Democrats can’t even muster their token opposition because they are obsessed with social media and have never viewed China as a serious threat. What is the excuse for congressional Republicans other than not wanting to offend Trump and his unrequited love of TikTok?
If Congress is just going to roll over for the president at every opportunity, what is the point of its existence? Right now, Congress serves as little more than a collection of aspiring TV pundits who take no pride in doing their job. It is more of a juvenile debate club than a legislature, and it is going to continue to be that so long as representatives and senators let Trump use or ignore congressional powers on a whim.