Democrats’ Trump Tariff Gambit Risks Extra Chaos for Speaker

House Democrats are looking to force a vote on President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs, after the Senate passed a rebuke with support from all Democrats and four Republicans.

If successful, their plan could create a new headache for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), whose floor is already scuttled by a separate dispute with rank-and-file members.

House GOP leaders previously tried to kneecap Democrats’ ability to force tariff-related votes by tacking language onto an unrelated rule to block votes on Feb. 1 national emergency declarations. But Democrats think they can still force a tariff vote, using a discharge petition or bringing up a privileged resolution, since Trump declared new national emergencies this week to enact tariffs.

Johnson can use his floor levers to try to “turn off” any possible Democrat-led tariff vote, but this development complicates his already difficult process of moving Trump’s agenda forward through legislation. The speaker already shut down the House early and sent members home this week because of a disagreement with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and her allies about whether to allow new parents to vote by proxy in the House. Trying to “turn off” Luna’s discharge petition, while also addressing a Democrat-led tariff mutiny, will only make Johnson’s job harder.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Johnson’s offices didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on how they’d address a tariff-related discharge petition.

Even some of House Democrats’ most vocal free trade skeptics were critical of Trump’s tariffs, which include a 10% baseline tariff on imports. Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who represents a competitive Ohio seat, said the 25% tariffs on many Canadian goods could hurt Jeep manufacturing and agriculture in her district. She added that Johnson’s home state includes shrimpers and oil refineries that will likely be hit, “so he has some thinking to do.”

Not all House Democrats are as concerned, though. Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who represents one of the country’s swingiest districts, praised the 10% baseline tariff as a “ring fence around the American economy” and “a good start to erasing our unsustainable trade deficits.”

If House Democrats do manage to force a vote to oppose Trump’s tariff strategy — as Foreign Affairs ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) has indicated they will — it would be tough to garner the necessary Republican support to adopt the resolution. Still, it would force swing-district Republicans to take a politically difficult up-or-down vote on whether to risk Trump’s ire by taking a more moderate stance on tariffs.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), one of the most vulnerable House incumbents, has indicated Congress shouldn’t cede so much authority to the president on tariffs. He said last week that “a trade war doesn’t benefit anybody,” adding that Trump should focus on the border and inflation to put Republicans in a good spot for 2026. If Trump doesn’t, “then you have a tougher midterm,” Bacon added.