Congressional Participation Threatens Presidential Tariff Powers
Congress triggered a constitutional paperwork emergency Thursday when the House voted 214-208 to suggest that elected lawmakers might possess some role in setting tariffs. Four Republicans joined Democrats in the outbreak of legislative participation, forcing officials to confront the long-dormant possibility that Article I contains verbs. The Senate moved quickly to contain the contagion by rejecting a similar measure and preserving the nation’s customary division of labor, under which Congress regulates commerce while the president decides what “regulates,” “commerce” and “Congress” mean.
President Donald Trump notified lawmakers that his latest tariffs were authorized by a national emergency, a flexible condition now defined as any morning on which the president encounters a trade deficit, an unfavorable headline or a foreign-made appliance. “Nobody knew the Constitution had Congress in it until these people started reading it very unfairly and using all these old words against your president,” Trump said, delivering the definitive originalist interpretation. Administration lawyers praised the doctrine, which allows temporary economic powers to remain permanent as long as officials periodically replace the percentage signs and announce that Canada has been taking advantage of America since the Louisiana Purchase.
House Speaker Mike Johnson warned that allowing representatives to represent their constituents could establish a destructive precedent. Lawmakers who vote on tariffs today could request economic projections tomorrow, ask who pays import taxes next week and eventually attempt the radical stunt of reading legislation before approving it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer argued that Congress must act if Trump refuses to change course, reviving the obsolete theory that checks and balances were intended to check or balance anything. Washington’s responsible adults nevertheless remained committed to shielding presidential freedom from votes, oversight, public consent and the other anti-business inconveniences listed in the Constitution. Congress has therefore been successfully protected from exercising its constitutional powers.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.