GOP-Controlled House Blocks Effort To Challenge Trump’s Tariffs
The Republican-led House cast a vote this week to prevent Congress from swiftly contesting tariffs imposed by President Trump—measures that have disrupted financial markets.
With a narrow 216-214 margin, the decision largely followed party lines and delays lawmakers' ability to push for a vote to overturn Trump’s tariff and immigration decisions for the remainder of the year, as reported by Reuters.
Since taking office, Trump has implemented multiple tariffs that have strained relationships with key trading partners, including Mexico and China. This week, he intensified a trade dispute with Canada, moves that have unsettled markets and led business leaders to express concerns about weakened consumer demand.
According to Reuters, Trump has defended these tariffs as a strategy to correct trade imbalances, bring jobs back to the U.S., and curb the inflow of illegal narcotics.
Tuesday’s decision effectively halted an initiative aimed at contesting the tariffs imposed on Canadian and Mexican imports. This challenge was led by Democratic Representative Suzan DelBene of Washington and had been scheduled for a vote later in the month.
“Every House Republican who voted for this measure is voting to give Trump expanded powers to raise taxes on American households through tariffs with full knowledge of how he is using those powers, and every Republican will own the economic consequences of that vote,” DelBene stated alongside fellow Democrat Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended the vote, stating to Reuters, “This is an appropriate balance of powers and we trust this White House to do the right thing, and I think that was the right vote and it was reflected in the vote count.”
DelBene sought to challenge the tariffs using the National Emergencies Act, which provides the president with special powers during declared emergencies—a basis Trump used to justify his tariff measures. This law also permits legislators to force a House vote within 15 days to revoke the president’s emergency authority, contingent on Senate approval.
However, Tuesday’s decision altered how the House tracks calendar days for the remainder of 2025, effectively blocking such a vote from occurring this year.
“The international emergency economic powers have not been used before to impose tariffs, and many members want to have a chance to weigh in,” former U.S. Trade Representative general counsel Greta Peisch told Reuters. “Without a fast-track voting process, they are unlikely to have an opportunity to do so.”
Despite criticisms from Democrats and media outlets suggesting Trump’s tariffs could trigger a “recession,” officials within his administration have countered these claims.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday, anchor Kristin Welker directly questioned Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on whether Americans “should brace for a recession.”
“Absolutely not. Anybody who bets against Donald Trump—it’s like the same people who thought Donald Trump wasn’t a winner a year ago,” Lutnick responded. “Donald Trump is a winner. He’s going to win for the American people. That’s just the way it’s going to be. There’s going to be no recession in America.”
He elaborated, stating, “What there’s going to be is global tariffs are going to come down because President Trump has said, ‘You want to charge us 100%? We’re going to charge you 100%.’ You know what they say? They say, ‘No, no, no, no, no, don’t charge us 100%. We’ll bring ours down.’”
Lutnick further emphasized, “We’ll unleash America out to the world. Grow our economy in a way we’ve never grown before. You are going to see over the next two years the greatest set of growth coming from America as Americans. You saw it, 1.3 trillion of new investment coming into America that—think of all those jobs, and remember, each trillion of investment in America is 1% of growth GDP.”
“So, Donald Trump is bringing growth to America. I would never bet on recession. No chance,” he concluded.