Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) called upon fellow members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to resist President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Last week, Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” on nearly 200 countries across the world, levies his administration has said will free the United States from relying on other countries for trade. Crockett has emerged as one of the most outspoken House Democrats against the Trump administration, most recently calling for Congress to oppose the president.
“It’s time for Congress, in a bipartisan way, to come together and reign in the Mad King. These tariffs haven’t even hit for real and the world is off the rails,” Crockett said in a social media post.
“Some things shouldn’t be partisan & this is one of them,” she continued.
She noted that “politically it’s helpful to Dems come election time to let them burn it all down,” but added, “this is why I’m not a good politician because I care too deeply for the harm that is inflicted, unnecessarily upon people, even on those that hate my very existence.”
Congress does have the power to pass legislation limiting or restricting the president’s ability to enact tariffs, but most Republican lawmakers have not shown they are willing to challenge Trump on this. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has made it clear he is no fan of tariffs, but he told reporters that he would give Trump “the benefit of the doubt” in hopes that the announcement was just a negotiating tactic with other countries.
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Congress could vote to cancel the emergency declaration and end the tariffs with a simple majority. Four Republican senators — Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — supported a privileged measure from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) to revoke Trump’s declared fentanyl emergency used to impose a 25% tariff on Canada.
The measure is not likely to be voted on in the House.
