Washington — The Senate voted Thursday to approve a resolution that would block President Trump's tariffs on countries around the world, the third in a trio of rebukes of the president's trade policy this week.
In a 51 to 47 vote, four Republicans joined Democrats to approve the resolution. Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, along with Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, supported the resolution. It was not subject to the 60-vote threshold needed for most legislation, requiring just a simple majority.
The resolution is largely symbolic since it almost certainly won't be taken up by the House, where GOP leaders have taken steps to prevent lawmakers from forcing a vote on the president's tariffs. Senate Democrats forced a vote on the resolution, which was led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, by bypassing GOP leadership using a provision of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the law that the president invoked to impose the tariffs.
In April, Mr. Trump declared a national emergency, citing "structural imbalances in the global trading system." The president then announced the U.S. would impose a minimum baseline of 10% tariffs on goods imported from all foreign countries, dubbing it "Liberation Day."
Wyden, speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, said the president's "actions clearly go beyond what the law allows, which is why I'm urging passage of this bill to finally end the president's unlawful tariffs."
"The Senate is not a spectator to the workings of the federal government," Wyden said. "When it comes to international trade, and tariffs in particular, the United States Congress has clear authority."
Sen. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, spoke out against the resolution, saying "at this juncture, this resolution is counterproductive to helping American families and businesses of all sizes."
"It's no secret that for decades, countries around the globe have raised tariff and non-tariff barr
