Tariff Floor Vote Now Possible
Foes of President Donald Trump’s tariffs now get to decide when to put that opposition to a vote in the House after Republican rebels quashed their leaders’ attempt to block even the possibility of a roll call.
Maeve Sheehey reports that GOP Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Don Bacon (Neb.), and Kevin Kiley (Calif.) bucked the party line in a procedural vote that would have kept any challenge of Trump’s tariffs off the floor until after the August recess.
“We have three members who disagreed, but I think what you saw on the board is the vast majority of the House Republicans agree wholeheartedly with the president, and we’re going to give him the latitude to continue his trade policy,” Speaker Mike Johnson told Maeve after losing the vote. “So we’ll see what happens next.”
With the procedural blockade lifted, Democrats want to force a floor vote on Trump’s 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada. They have a resolution ready that would end the legal justification for those tariffs.
Last night’s vote came on the heels of a new Trump provocation against Canada, which paid 100% of the cost of a new bridge linking Detroit with Windsor, Ontario. Trump threatened to block its opening until the US was given compensation and ownership of half of it.
The new crossing was built, in part, because manufacturers wanted an alternative to the Ambassador Bridge. David Welch, Josh Wingrove, and Thomas Seal report that the new threat came just hours after the billionaire who owns the competing bridge met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Read More
Also Read: Trump Privately Weighs Quitting USMCA Trade Pact He Negotiate
Three Days to Go
Here’s where things stand on the Homeland spending negotiations:
- Senate Republican Leader John Thune is talking about another stopgap bill.
- Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said “There’s no reason we can’t get this done by Thursday.”
- Regular funding for agencies under the DHS umbrella, including TSA and the Coast Guard, lasts through Friday.
One of the big sticking points, lawmakers said, is that Democrats want to require ICE and Border Patrol agents get a judge to sign off on warrants before going into homes or businesses.
Appropriators plan to draw attention to the downside of forcing a funding lapse with a hearing today focused on the impact on non-ICE parts of the spending bill. A hearing yesterday focused on the aggressive tactics that led to fatal shootings and the current impasse.
Zach C. Cohen has more in today’s BGOV Budget.
Also Read:
Iran on the Agenda
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will use the hastily arranged visit to Washington to urge Trump not to settle for a narrow nuclear agreement with Iran, Dan Williams and Catherine Lucey report. Rather, Netanyahu wants to push for a sweeping roll-back of Iran’s military activities in the Middle East and its ballistic missile program. Read More
The US held indirect talks with Iran, and announced plans for more this week. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships are in the region as negotiators discuss Iran’s nuclear program. Trump, who previously said on social media that the Navy is “ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” told Fox Business in an interview aired yesterday that “I think they want to make a deal. I think they’d be foolish if they didn’t.”
See Also: New Iran Deal Distant Prospect as US Talks Drag, Airstrikes Loom
Employment Check
There are interesting numbers and then there are gotta-see-these numbers. The updated unemployment data coming this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are in the must-check-out category.
That report will provide jobs numbers for January, plus any revisions to past reports needed after factoring in information from state unemployment insurance tax records, Mark Niquette, Jarrell Dillard, and Augusta Saraiva reported.
The revisions may indicate an even sharper slowdown in hiring than previously thought.
“The annual benchmark revisions are going to be more consequential than normal this year,” said Scott Anderson, chief US economist at BMO Capital Markets. “Right now the labor market does appear to be on a knife’s edge between net job growth and maybe job loss.”
Today’s report follows a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that found job openings fell in December to the lowest level since 2020, while layoffs edged up.
Targeting Judges and Congress Members
A Justice Department official is building a file on judges who might be targeted for impeachment.
Ben Penn reports that chief prosecutors and other leaders of the 93 US attorney’s offices were told to provide DOJ headquarters with vivid instances in which judges obstructed the Trump administration through adverse rulings.
Those senior prosecutors were told their input would help determine when it’s necessary for DOJ to refer judges to the House for impeachment proceedings, to craft a more aggressive appellate strategy, or to propose legislative fixes.
The DOJ initiative dovetails with a ramped-up push from Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans to impeach two federal judges targeted by Trump allies for rulings seen as unfavorable to the administration. Read More
Meanwhile, a grand jury rejected an attempt by DOJ to indict members of Congress who released a video telling members of the military they can refuse illegal orders, the Washington Post reports.
It is exceedingly rare for grand juries to reject indictments, in part because prosecutors only need to convince a majority of grand jurors that there is a probable cause that a crime was committed.
Midterms 2026: Crypto Play
Alabama TV viewers are about to hear a lot about their state’s open Senate seat. Greg Giroux and Kate Ackley report that the crypto super PAC Fairshake’s Republican affiliate, Defend American Jobs, will spend $5 million in support of GOP Rep. Barry Moore‘s bid.
The five-week campaign kicking off this week will promote Trump’s endorsement of Moore, Fairshake said in a news release.
In a relatively short time, Fairshake has become a big force in elections, and it had more than $190 million in the bank at the start of the year, the latest disclosures show. Read More
See Also: Democrats Widen Battlefield District Targets on Pro-Trump Turf
Before You Go
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Trump to Direct Pentagon to Buy Coal Power to Revive Industry
President
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The White House defended President
House Scrutiny Escalates of Troubled Coast Guard Cutter Program
A House committee is escalating its investigation into a troubled Coast Guard shipbuilding program after accusing a major contractor of failing to turn over records related to years of delays and cost overruns, according to a letter from the panel’s chairman obtained by Bloomberg News.
Trump’s Dismantling of Big Law DEI Succeeded Despite Probe’s End
A federal agency’s failed investigation into diversity programs at large law firms has the legal industry’s top players on their heels, even as the Trump administration’s threats so far have proved hollow.
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