by Ashley Murray, Missouri Independent
May 1, 2025

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans defended President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs Wednesday, blocking a largely symbolic measure to terminate the president’s import taxes that have shocked the economy.

The resolution failed in a tied 49-49 vote Wednesday evening. Vice President J.D. Vance broke the tie on a subsequent procedural vote to stop the measure from receiving another chance on the floor.

Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky were the only three to break with their party in support of reining in Trump’s use of emergency powers to trigger tariffs on nearly every other nation across the globe.

Paul was the lone Republican co-sponsor on the Senate resolution, which was likely to go nowhere under House Republican leadership.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell missed the vote. Earlier in April McConnell joined Collins and Murkowski in voting to halt Trump’s tariffs on Canada.

‘Devastating’ economic news

The vote came hours after the release of figures showing the U.S. economy shrank during the first quarter of 2025. 

“The devastating economic news we got this morning should be enough for senators to vote yes tonight. The only winner today is China, which is scooping up markets and allies Donald Trump has left in the dust,” Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said on the floor just before the vote.

Wyden and Paul co-sponsored the resolution that aimed to block Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announced April 2 that caused market upheaval.

The president’s shockingly high taxes on goods imported from some of the nation’s closest trading partners — 20% on the European Union, 24% on Japan, 46% on Vietnam — rocked global markets, erasing trillions in wealth. Trump triggered the levies by declaring foreign trade as a national emergency.

Trump announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs starting April 9, but left in place a 10% universal import tax on nearly every country across the globe — excluding China.

The White House is now in an all-out trade war with the world’s no. 2 economy, raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. China stopped at a 125% levy on American goods.

Kaine warning

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who also co-sponsored the resolution, told reporters on a press call Wednesday that he’s willing to “link arms” with Trump to fight what the U.S. views as China’s unfair trade practices, but he said Trump needs to “wake up and smell the coffee” on the damage to relationships with trading partners.

“When you put tariffs on allies what you do is push away the very nations you could be joining with to counter China,” the Virginia Democrat said.

Kaine also blamed Trump’s trade policy for Wednesday’s negative economic headlines.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis report showed the U.S. gross domestic product decreased at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first three months of this year.

“It’s the wrong economic strategy to turn the strongest economy in the world to one that has red flashing lights on it,” Kaine said.

Kaine said he believed some House Republicans would support the resolution but that “leadership has bottled it up.”

Trump blames Biden

Trump’s administration officials and his allies in Congress continue to defend the tariffs. The president himself blames former President Joe Biden for the economic “hangover,” as he described it in his Truth Social post Wednesday.

“This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!,” Trump wrote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune similarly told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday that economic reports are “short term.”

“They measure it sort of day by day, month by month, quarter by quarter. And as I said yesterday, I think that with the tariff issue that they’re playing the long game, but we’ll see,” the South Dakota Republican said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended Trump’s import taxes Tuesday from the White House briefing room, but also announced the administration’s reprieve on 25% taxes on foreign cars and auto parts.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the vote Wednesday night.

“Leader Thune and Senate Republicans tonight voted to keep the Trump tariff-tax in place. They own the Trump tariffs and higher costs on America’s middle-class families,” the New York Democrat said in a statement.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The content presents a relatively balanced view of the political situation surrounding President Trump’s emergency tariffs, incorporating perspectives from both Republican and Democratic senators. It highlights the opposition within the Republican party while also presenting criticisms from Democrats, along with statements defending the tariffs by Trump and his allies. The tone is factual and does not overtly favor one political side, aiming to inform readers about varied viewpoints and recent developments.