McConnell Among GOP Senators Joining Democrats in Vote…

McConnell Among GOP Senators Joining Democrats in Vote to Scrap Trump Tariffs on Brazil

Former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Credit: AFP)

The Senate voted 52–48 on Tuesday to advance a resolution to end President Donald Trump's tariffs on Brazilian imports, marking an unusual bipartisan challenge to the administration's trade policy. Five Republicans — including former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell — joined all Democrats in supporting the measure.

The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, would terminate national emergency declarations Trump used to justify tariffs of up to 50% on products such as oil, coffee and orange juice.

Even if it advances further, the effort is unlikely to become law since House Republicans recently enacted rules that allow leadership to block a vote, and Trump would almost certainly veto the bill, as The Associated Press points out.

Still, the vote signaled growing Republican discomfort with the administration's use of emergency authorities in trade. "Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive," McConnell said ahead of the vote, adding that "the economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule." GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis also backed the resolution.

Kaine said the vote was aimed at forcing debate on "the economic destruction of tariffs" and on presidential overreach. "How much will we let a president get away with?" he told reporters, arguing that the administration has improperly invoked emergency powers.

Trump has tied the tariffs to Brazil's prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro. "Every American who wakes up in the morning to get a cup of java is paying a price for Donald Trump's reckless, ridiculous, and almost childish tariffs," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said regarding the vote. The United States recorded a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year, according to Census Bureau data.

Republicans have expressed broader unease about the economic effects of Trump's tariff strategy. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently concluded that the policy is contributing to higher unemployment and inflation while reducing overall economic growth.

Some Republicans, however, urged caution ahead of a pending Supreme Court case examining the legality of the tariffs, as CNN explains. Sen. Kevin Cramer called the timing "bad," while Vice President JD Vance told colleagues that voting to overturn the tariffs would strip Trump of leverage in trade negotiations: "I think it's a huge mistake," he said.

The vote comes as some Republicans have also questioned the administration's expanding military campaign targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific. Several senators, including Tillis and Collins, have called for greater congressional oversight, and Sen. Rand Paul has labeled the strikes "extrajudicial killings."

Kaine said he plans to introduce similar resolutions regarding Trump's tariffs on Canada and other nations, as well as legislation to limit the president's ability to conduct military strikes in Venezuela.

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