Democrats look to force Republicans to choose between backing Trump or lessening tariff pain

(CNN) — Congressional Democrats are taking steps to force their Republican colleagues to choose between backing President Donald Trump and reining in his economic policy amid mounting fears of a global recession.

The efforts are unlikely to succeed long term, given the White House has already warned it would override any potential push. But Democrats want to pressure Republicans to publicly decide whether they’ll stand with the president or whether they’ll attempt to prevent price hikes for their constituents.

A day before Trump’s massive reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect, New York Rep. Gregory Meeks took a procedural step that will soon force a vote to terminate the president’s steep global tariffs that have rattled American consumers and could soon raise the prices of everything from groceries to gasoline, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The senior Democrat’s resolution — expected to be deemed “privileged,” which means it will come to the floor within 15 days despite GOP leadership opposition — would end the tariffs announced by the White House last week.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are planning to force a vote on rolling back global tariffs when they return from recess, with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul expected to join them on the measure.

As privileged, they would be able to force a vote when the chamber returns from its two-week recess, according to Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, around the same time the House will be forced to vote on Meeks’ resolution — though timing for either could slide.

The efforts mark the latest by Democrats to push back on Trump, and the party plans to focus on concerns over tariffs and potential cuts to Medicaid while in their home districts over the upcoming congressional recess.

“The American people are speaking already, and they don’t like what they’re seeing. They’re anxious. They’re worried, and they’re worried about the chaos of what Trump is doing, in addition to worrying about … how high these tariffs go, in terms of cost. He never outlined a policy like this,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters Tuesday.

Key GOP senators push for congressional check

Last week, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state introduced a bill that would require presidents to justify new tariffs to Congress and lawmakers to approve them. Seven Republicans, including Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, have signed onto the measure, while the White House already vowed to veto it.

Grassley and Tillis were among the GOP senators who said Tuesday that Congress should be able to hold the administration accountable.

Tillis, who is up for reelection next year, told CNN he’s mostly hearing from businesses in his state and concerns about the “cost of inputs.” Reaction from his constituents, he said, is “only beginning to trickle in now. If you think about when the tariffs were implemented, you won’t see these costs for another week or two as things come onshore.”

Pressed on the impact of tariffs on farmers, Tillis called it a “stability issue” for businesses, adding, “We’ve got a lot of uncertainty.”

Grassley said farmers in his state are concerned about “input costs.”

Others acknowledged the short-term economic disruption of tariffs and expressed hope that negotiations will eventually roll back Trump’s sweeping global policy.

Sen. John Cornyn told CNN he thinks his constituents understand “the principle of reciprocity” and pointed to Texas cattle raisers being unable to sell beef in Australian markets. Pressed on whether his constituents will stomach higher prices, the Texas Republican answered, “Any time you’re gonna have a change in the status quo, there’s gonna be some disruption, by definition.”

“How this story ends is the most important thing, and hopefully it ends quickly,” he added.

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, meanwhile, said he’s concerned about companies going into bankruptcy due to the tariff policies, saying, “in certain businesses, it’s a real possibility.”

The Wisconsin Republican said there are some products needed by small businesses that they “simply can’t access other than overseas,” and that tariffs are “going to make them uncompetitive, both domestically and internationally.”

Still, some Republicans on Capitol Hill are taking the wait-and-see approach.

Pressed on Trump’s second-term tariff plan, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley acknowledged it was “very aggressive,” but noted Trump had campaigned on this kind of trade policy.

“Your question is, are people at home … willing to ride with the president on this? I think they are,” he said, adding later: “I think people are willing to give him some rope here and see if he can get a good outcome.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota sidestepped Tuesday when pressed on whether Americans will accept higher prices.

“Yeah, there are all kinds of implications. … There are a lot of very intricate trading relationships that exist today across the world. And, you know, ultimately, we don’t know what the economic impacts are going to be,” the Republican leader said.

“We hope that the president is successful, and if he is, and he gets some reciprocity from other countries around the world, you know, this may all be temporary,” he continued.

CNN’s Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer and Casey Riddle contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.