Four Republican Senators voted with Democrats to express their disapproval of President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, and I don’t think you’ll be shocked by their names.
Here’s the news from The Hill:
A group of Republican senators voted along with Democrats on Wednesday for a resolution to undo President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports…
The resolution expresses the sense of the Senate and doesn’t have the force of law, but its 51-48 passage is unwelcome news for the president on the very day he announced a host of new tariffs.
Four Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) — voted for the measure.
They voted to express their disapproval of Trump’s tariffs on Canada a few hours after the president announced he would impose a 10 percent tariff on all imports and levy even higher rates on imports from the European Union, China, Vietnam and Japan.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had urged Republican colleagues to vote against the resolution, advising them it was a political gambit by Democrats to embarrass Trump.
Thune argued on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon that the tariff against Canada is necessary leverage to push Canadian authorities to crack down on drug smuggling across the northern border.
“I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution and ensure that President Trump has the tools that he needs to combat the flow of fentanyl from all directions,” he said.
He argued the fentanyl crisis warrants “an aggressive response.”
Trump, for his part, took a shot at Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), for sponsoring the resolution.
“Sen. Tim Kaine, who ran against me with Crooked Hillary in 2016, is trying to halt our critical Tariffs on deadly Fentanyl coming in from Canada. We are making progress to end this terrible Fentanyl Crisis, but Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place, so we can finish the job, and end the scourge,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
He also targeted the four Republicans in the hours before the vote.
“Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change, and fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order to make it more costly to distribute and buy,” Trump posted.
I’m just not shocked by this and I really don’t think it’s all that embarrassing for the president. If it had the force of law, it might be different. But as far as I see, it’s just politics.