Johnson wants to extend rules blocking Congress from voting on Trump’s tariffs

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to delay a congressional vote on President Donald Trump’s tariffs until July, but GOP members could join Democrats to challenge the blockade on tariff-related matters.

Johnson is moving ahead with a procedural vote on Tuesday that would prevent the House from taking up matters related to the tariffs until July 30. He aims to maintain control over the issue and avoid a direct vote that could divide the Republican caucus.

Johnson has been using the House rules committee to block members from bringing a vote on any of the emergencies that underly Trump’s tariffs to the floor. Johnson’s rules exclude tariff-related matters from “calendar days” when the House does its business, said Phillip Magness, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute.

“Johnson would likely lose a direct vote, because enough anti-tariff Republicans would join the Democratic minority to pass the resolution,” Magness told The Center Square. “For almost a year now, Johnson has been gaming the House rules to make sure that such a vote can never happen.”

Trump’s agenda at home and abroad depends on his ability to raise revenue through taxes on imports. The president has said his tariff revenue will cover the cost of $2,000 rebate checks for some Americans, offset increased military spending and reduce the nation’s $38 trillion in debt. Budget watchdogs say tariffs won’t raise enough revenue to cover any of those spending plans. The president has also frequently used tariffs as a bargaining chip with other nations to address a wide range of issues.

Johnson has renewed the rules prohibition on a tariff vote three times and is seeking a fourth extension, this time for six months until July 31, at a vote set for 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“He is attempting to force it through a fourth time by attaching it to a much larger rules package,” Magness said. “Rules packages are usually passed on party-line votes by the majority party, and defectors are often singled out and penalized by the speaker, who can hold up their legislation or even pursue more severe penalties that affect their committee assignments.”

Last April, Trump imposed import taxes of at least 10% on every U.S. trading partner. Since then, the president has used tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to achieve policy goals at home and abroad. Those tariffs have pushed up prices for U.S. manufacturers and consumers, but the White House says that foreign countries will ultimately pick up the tab.

Johnson previously told Republican detractors that the prohibition would expire in January.

“The scope and duration of Johnson’s actions are unprecedented,” Magness said. “Johnson has kept these rules in place for almost a year now, thereby preventing any House oversight vote on the IEEPA tariff declarations from occurring.”

A group of states and small businesses challenged Trump’s tariffs under the 1977 law, winning in two lower courts before the administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court agreed to hear the case on an expedited basis. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in November, but has yet to rule on the matter.