Republicans shift gears to pummel unpopular Trump policy

President Donald Trump is being criticized by both Democrats and Republicans for his economically-damaging tariffs, according to a recent report.

Even though Congress lacks the two-thirds veto-proof majorities necessary to overturn Trump's tariffs, three Republican representatives joined Democrats in the House in voting to overturn those tariffs last week, the Financial Times observed. Journalist Alan Beattie said these votes signal a major political shift, indicating that opinion polls and business opposition are combining to prompt some Republicans to join the congressional Democrats in opposing Trump’s tariffs.

Although Congress does not have the power to directly repeal Trump’s tariffs, Beattie pointed out that Congress’ awakening undermines Trump’s case before the Supreme Court that the executive branch can unilaterally exercise tariff authority because Congress does not act.

“In this light, the rush of bilateral ‘gunboat deals’ is a high-stakes game of bluff, with the US holding a position that could weaken markedly,” Beattie writes. “Trading partners surely know the US wants to get its tariffs down.”

Overall Beattie argued there is a zeitgeist shift against Trump’s tariffs.

"It's now implanted in public discourse that American companies and consumers, not foreigners, are paying the tariff costs,” Beattie wrote.

The Financial Times are joining a chorus of conservative and moderate sources attacking Trump’s tariffs.

“The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and its members cannot stand behind the president while he undercuts the future of family farmers and ranchers by importing Argentinian beef in an attempt to influence prices,” Colin Woodall, head of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement following Trump’s beef tariffs.

Similarly Cato Institute vice president Scott Lincicome responded to a report that Trump is backing away from some of his tariffs by sarcastically quipping, "They're admitting, in other words, that gravity exists.”

Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd of Missouri expressed a similar thought when he told CNN’s Manu Raju last week, “I've heard clearly from small and large manufacturers as well as agricultural producers that these tariffs are hurting them.” Mona Charen from the conservative Never Trump publication The Bulwark summed up the prevailing view by anti-tariff conservatives quite succinctly.

“Voters are rarely able to connect policy to outcomes, but they have done so in the case of tariffs,” Charen wrote. “Back in 2024, Americans were about equally divided on the question of trade, with some favoring higher tariffs and roughly similar numbers opting for lower tariffs. Experience has changed their views.”

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