As markets all over the world fell and other countries planned retaliation in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, the Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Democrat Maria Cantwell Bipartisan legislation on Thursday introduced the congress to approve new tariffs.
And the house Democrats are preparing to try to force a vote to terminate customs.
The reaction to the tariffs and their fallout was predictably divided along party lines on Capitol Hill, though some Republicans said they were concerned about how the markets reacted.
The Senate Bill requires the president to notify Congress of new tariffs within 48 hours and for Congress to act to approve these tariffs within 60 days.
Senator Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor at Capitol, April 3, 2025.
The Senate of the United States
It is unclear whether the bill would have the support it needs to pass. But it comes less than a day after four Republicans voted with Democrats to adopt a decision that would block Trump’s tariffs on Canadian products.
Cantwell said that her and Grassley’s bill is coming at a time when Congress should “repeat herself in our constitutional tasks.” She said it was modeled on the decision of the war powers in 1973 and would “restore boundaries of the president’s authority,” specifically in relation to introducing customs without congress approval.
“The Congress of the War Powers Act decided to regain its authority because they thought a president had overreached,” Cantwell said.
Cantwell and Grassley serve in the Senate Finance Committee. Grassley, a former chairman, has long agreed to restore the role of congress in trade policy.
In Parliament, the National Emergency Cyes Makers, which Trump used to introduce new tariffs, gives the congress the opportunity to vote on a decision on rejection that would effectively cancel them. Congress will have to vote within 15 days of Trump informing Congress of the new statement, Democratic helpers told ABC News.
While Republicans could adopt a new measure to prevent Congress from preventing Trump’s policy, Democrats believe Republicans would pay a greater political price.
“Any rule change will be a vote that supports the president’s tariffs,” a senior democratic help told ABC News.
Senate’s minority leader Chuck Schumer called Customs one of the “stupidest” decisions Trump has made as president, “and that says something.”
“Donald Trump has created an economic forest fire on his own,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Schumer urged speaker Mike Johnson to call the house back in the session to make a Senate Pass decision that would block tariffs on Canadian goods. Republicans Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul on Wednesday voted with Democrats to adopt the bill, which Paul co -authored Democrat Tim Kaine.
McConnell said Thursday “Trade War with our partners wounded the most working people.”
Senator Maria Cantwell speaks at Capitol, April 3, 2025.
The Senate of the United States
When asked about Trump, had made the right step, said Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota: “We’ll find out.”
“The one thing we know is that the president was very aware that he thinks there should be fair trade agreements with our partners, our friends and our allies,” Rounds said. “This is his first step. Let’s find out how they react.”
North Dakota GOP -sen. Kevin Cramer said he was comfortable with where his voters were standing on Trump’s duty.
“My own voters voted for this,” he said. “It’s not like Donald Trump is surprisingly anyone – he has signaled his strong support for customs duties from the beginning, he has practiced it in the past, and with that he got 66 percent of the votes in North Dakota, so with this promise they trusted him. So yes, I feel good about where my voters are on it.”
And while he said was worried about how the markets reacted, Kramer said longer trends will be more narrative.
“Well, you know the market is emotional – it’s always been,” Kramer said. “I never look at a day in the market and see a trend so you know we’ll see, but I hope as I said it finds a bottom and then it starts to find a ceiling much later.”
Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Rhode Island called the tariffs “Insane” and said the rollout was “another thing that is incoherent, poorly planned and wants significant consequences.”
Kaine said some Republicans who voted against his decision Wednesday told him he was not wrong, but they would give Trump the benefit of the doubt.
When asked if he thought they could raise their voices when things play out, he said, “I do, because I think they will hear from their voters higher and higher and higher.” They will see that it will not work and when it does not work, I cannot imagine that they will stand by as you know, the president pushes our finances into a recession. “
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan and Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
