Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed that Democrats will “block” attempts to extend President Donald Trump’s new tariffs past their expiration date this summer, in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that invalidated many of his global tariffs.
In the 6-3 decision last Friday, it was determined that Trump had exceeded the emergency powers granted to presidents by Congress under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, also known as the IEEPA. As a result, many of the broad tariffs that the administration had placed on international trading partners since the previous year were lifted.
Trump declared on Saturday that he would use Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to raise a replacement import fee from 10% to 15%. The authority will expire on July 24, 150 days after its implementation. Congress would then have to decide whether to extend them.
Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate. However, most legislation requires a 60-vote threshold to pass, meaning some Democrats would be needed to provide support.
“Senate Democrats will continue to fight back against Trump’s tariff tax and will block any attempt to extend these harmful tariffs when they expire this summer,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday in a statement.
“The new tariff regime that Trump put in must expire in a few months and needs Congress’s approval. I am here to tell Donald Trump and the American people, we will not extend those tariffs, and they will expire in a few months,” Schumer said later from the Senate floor.
Trump called the court’s decision “deeply disappointing” and has signaled he has no intention of refunding any of the collected monies, setting the stage for court fights over potential refunds of more than $130 billion in tariffs paid to the federal government.
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Trump also said that Schumer has been “beaten up badly” but the far-left of his party, saying Schumer is trying to play hardball on everything because he is “in deep trouble” and “losing in all of the polls.”
“He’s even losing to AOC, plus three,” Trump said, referencing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and her progressive allies in Congress.
A group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation on Monday that would mandate reimbursements for the tariffs that were struck down. The bill’s co-sponsors estimate that the potential tariff revenue could reach $175 billion.
In the Senate, the Trump administration might encounter some GOP angst over the matter. Some Republican lawmakers even celebrated the court’s ruling because the tariffs have been a rare source of vocal GOP discomfort. Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky and a former Senate GOP leader, stated on Friday that “the Supreme Court reaffirmed authority that has rested with Congress for centuries.”
Schumer called on Republicans to stand with Democrats and prevent Trump from imposing additional tariffs. The Senate approved three bills in October that sought to lift Trump’s now-revoked international tariffs. Due to opposition from the Republican leadership in the House, none of the three have made any progress.
The House narrowly approved a bill earlier this month to reverse Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Monday he thinks it’ll be “a challenge to find consensus on any path forward on the tariffs, on the legislative side.”
“That is why, I think, you see so much of the attention on the executive side, the executive branch, and what they’re doing and how they’re reacting to the ruling,” Johnson said.
All of this comes ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the speech will be “a great speech” that will focus on how he’s fulfilling his campaign pledges to the American people.
