The Senate voted Wednesday to oppose President Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports. The move came just hours after Trump’s “Liberation Day” event.
Four Republicans joined Democrats. Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski backed the resolution. It passed 51-48.
The resolution probably won’t pass in the GOP-led House. Still, Democrats saw it as a small win heading into midterms.
Rand Paul took to the Senate floor to explain. Quoting James Otis, he said, "Taxation without representation is tyranny." He warned about one person having the power to tax.
"And yet today, we are here before the Senate because one person in our country wishes to raise taxes," Paul said. "Well, this is contrary to everything our country was founded upon. One person is not allowed to raise tax. The Constitution forbids it."
Paul reminded the chamber that the Founders gave taxing power only to Congress.
"I stand against the idea of skipping democracy, of skipping the constitutional republic, of rejecting our founding principles, not because I have any animus towards the president," he said. "I do this because I love my country... Another name for emergency rule is martial law."
He didn’t hold back on the tariffs. "This is a tax, plain and simple," Paul said. "Taxes should not be enacted by one person... the power of the tariff... should properly be... in Congress."
Trump lashed out on Truth Social. He slammed Paul, McConnell, Collins, and Murkowski. He urged them to join the “Republican bandwagon.”
He accused them of siding with Democrats and drug cartels. “They are playing with the lives of the American people,” Trump wrote. “What is wrong with them... other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome?”
Trump said the four Republicans were “unbelievably disloyal.” He also claimed they were difficult to work with.
Democrats, still struggling since Republicans took Congress and the White House, saw an opening. Kaine used a rare procedural move to force a vote.
Congress has power to undo emergency declarations. That’s how Kaine brought the resolution forward.
The Senate vote came the same day Trump held a “Make America Wealthy Again” event. He announced a new executive order with “reciprocal tariffs.”
"In the face of unrelenting economic warfare... we cannot pay the deficits of Canada, Mexico..." Trump said. “We take care of countries all over the world... but we have to take care of our people.”
"Today we're standing up for the American worker," he added. "We are finally putting America first."