Five Senate Republicans broke ranks Tuesday with President Donald Trump, joining Democrats in a symbolic vote to block his emergency tariffs on Brazil in a rare public rebuke of his trade policies amid the ongoing government shutdown.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., sought to terminate the national emergency declarations Trump used to justify imposing 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods including oil, coffee and orange juice. Though the resolution passed the Senate with support from five Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — it is expected to stall in the Republican-controlled House, where leadership can prevent it from ever coming to a vote. Trump is also expected to veto the measure if it reaches his desk.
“This vote is about more than tariffs,” Kaine said. “It’s about how much we will let a president get away with. Do my colleagues have a gag reflex or not?” He argued that Trump’s trade wars have hurt American consumers and businesses alike, calling the tariffs “economic destruction.”
The administration says the tariffs are a necessary tool to secure better trade deals and punish Brazil for its treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Vice President JD Vance met privately with GOP senators earlier Tuesday to warn that opposing Trump’s tariffs would weaken the president’s leverage in negotiations.
“To vote against that is to strip that incredible leverage from the president of the United States,” Vance told reporters afterward.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the tariffs as a hidden tax on everyday Americans.
“Every American who wakes up in the morning to get a cup of java is paying a price for Donald Trump’s reckless, ridiculous, and almost childish tariffs,” he said.
The debate underscored growing Republican unease with Trump’s expansive use of emergency powers to impose trade restrictions without congressional approval. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently reported that the administration’s tariff policies are contributing to higher inflation, job losses and slower economic growth.
McConnell, the former GOP leader, said in a statement that “tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive,” while Paul said Trump’s use of emergency powers for trade was “an abuse” of executive authority.
“Emergencies are like war, famine, tornado,” Paul said. “Not liking someone’s tariffs is not an emergency.”
Kaine said he plans to introduce similar resolutions targeting Trump’s emergency tariffs on Canada and other nations later this week, aiming to keep pressure on the White House and highlight divisions within the GOP over trade and presidential power.
This is a breaking news article. Updates to follow.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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