The U.S. Senate narrowly avoided repealing all of President Donald Trump’s outstanding tariffs Wednesday night, a bipartisan showdown that saw three Republicans side with Democrats and voice their displeasure at economic turbulence that has rippled outward.
The late-night vote ultimately ended in a 49-49 tie, allowing the president and his economic advisors to breathe a sigh of relief for the time being. Voting coincided with absences by Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and former majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), both of whom were expected to support the anti-tariffs resolution.
Allies of the White House immediately denounced votes by GOP Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Susan Collins (R-ME) against the president’s tariffs, though they came as little surprise to observers of the intraparty policy feud; all have expressed their profound dissatisfaction with the status quo, the AP reports.
During a floor speech last month, Sen. Murkowski indicated that she supported an argument by Democrats that Congress would reassert its control over the nation’s tariff policy.
“I think it’s time for Congress to reassert itself, whether it’s on tariffs, whether it’s on the power of appropriation, whether it’s overseeing the bodies, the agencies that we as a body have authorized,” she said while introducing legislation that would claw back the power of tariffs from the presidency.
McConnell and Paul, a devout libertarian, have long said they oppose tariffs as a form of economic policy.
The brush with disaster appears not to have fazed Trump, however, as he has not made a social media post or other public acknowledgment of the vote. Instead, he and advisors, including Howard Lutnick and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have fanned out across the airwaves to reinforce the message that tariffs are forcing other countries to the bargaining table.
Bessent, in particular, has been an ombudsman for Trump’s trademark foreign policy initiative. He joined White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to mark the administration’s 100th day and provide updates on dozens of countries that remain in talks with the U.S. to renegotiate their terms of trade.
China, meanwhile, is believed to be suffering greatly under the weight of an across-the-board 145% tariff on goods.
“I’ve seen some very large numbers over the past few days that show if these numbers stay on, China could lose 10 million jobs very quickly, and even if there is a drop in the tariffs, they could lose five million jobs,” he added, describing the tariffs as “unsustainable” for the communist country’s economy.
Administration officials are keeping a close eye on negotiations in the U.S. House to pass President Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill, legislation that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said will “solve a lot of problems” and provide a “turbo boost for the economy,” CNN reported. Bessent said Tuesday morning he is pleased that negotiations around determining funding for the bill are “going much better than I would’ve thought when I took office on January 28th.”
