This bill would have restricted the president’s ability to impose tariffs without congressional approval.It specifically sought to prevent the president from using national security concerns under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act as a justification for imposing tariffs without Congress’s consent.
Broadly speaking, Paul wanted Congress to have more control over trade policy decisions.
The bill did not get enough support from Republicans or Democrats.
Were Democrats wrong not to support this bill?
Edit, Link to a description of the bill: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr5760
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This bill would have restricted the president’s ability to impose tariffs without congressional approval.It specifically sought to prevent the president from using national security concerns under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act as a justification for imposing tariffs without Congress’s consent.
Broadly speaking, Paul wanted Congress to have more control over trade policy decisions.
The bill did not get enough support from Republicans or Democrats.
Were Democrats wrong not to support this bill?
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Economic nationalist rhetoric is popular, until it’s implemented.
I mean if both Congressional Dems and Repubs didn’t support a bill giving them more power then I feel like there’s more to it
Can you link to something so we can see the bill?
>Were Democrats wrong not to support Rand Paul’s 2018 Trade Authority Protection Act (the tariff one)?
I can’t find any information about it online.
Are you thinking of:
>H.R. 5760, the Trade Authority Protection Act, introduced in May by Representative Ron Kind (D-WI), would allow Congress to nullify actions via a joint resolution of disapproval…
More Democrats than Republicans cosponsored it and it died in committee in a Republican majority Congress under a Republican speaker.
Why is this the Democrats’ fault?
A Democrat sponsored this bill, and Republicans killed it in committee. I’m not a huge fan of democrats, but this one is on Republicans.
Nope. Nothing protects us from a trifecta of stupid.
Stop blaming Democrats for Republican fuckups.
No, not at all (if I’m reading the bill correctly).
Congress has the authority to overrule President Trump’s Tariffs. There’s a long procedural history to how we got here, starting with how tariffs used to be seen as treaties, but these tariffs in particular are being enacted unilaterally under section 202 of that National Emergencies Act. Congress can override them, and (at least in the House), resolutions to do so are privileged, meaning that once introduced, those resolutions must be taken up by the full Chamber–whether the Speaker likes or not–within 15 days. Except–the FY 2025 budget that just passed added some interesting language:
>”Each day for the remainder of the first session of the 119th Congress shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of section 202 of the National Emergencies Act with respect to a joint resolution terminating a national emergency declared by the President on February 1, 2025.”
So for the purposes of privileged resolutions under section 202 of the National Securities Act, no days shall pass no matter how many days pass each day each week for the rest of the current Congress, and no vote shall be taken on tariffs unless the Speaker wants it.
But Paul’s bill is different: it wouldn’t even apply to the current situation. It’s only for “Congressionally delegated trade action,” and the definition provided in that section does not seem to overlap with section 202 of the National Security Act under which the current tariffs were enacted.
Yes
probably but right and wrong are never so binary when it comes to matters of power.
Even if it was a law Trump would just ignore it, and congress would let him get away with it.