49-49 Vote in Senate Kills Anti-Tariffs Measure

A couple of absences in the Senate on Wednesday doomed a bipartisan measure to block President Trump's tariffs. GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse both had expressed support for the resolution but missed the vote, NBC News reports. That led to a 49-49 tie; the measure needed a simple majority to pass. Every Democrat present voted yes, per the Hill, as did three Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Rand Paul.

Whitehouse was on his way back from a conference in South Korea on protecting the world's oceans from various threats, per Politico. McConnell was ill, a colleague told the Hill. The measure, which would have ended the national emergency Trump cited in imposing the tariffs, carried no force and would have been a tough sell in the GOP-run House. But the White House and Republican leaders in the Senate nevertheless worked to prevent a rebuke of Trump. Saying tariffs punish American families instead of foreign governments, Paul said in a floor speech before the vote, "When we tax imports, we raise the price of everything." The high cost of living, he said, helped Republicans win the 2024 elections, adding, "Shouldn't we learn from our success?"

The pressure from GOP leaders did not sway any Republicans who had planned to vote yes. Collins said she thought the resolution too broad. "But it sends the message that I want to send that … we really need to be far more discriminatory in imposing these tariffs," she said, "and not treat allies like Canada the way we treat adversaries like China." (More tariffs stories.)