WASHINGTON — A bipartisan measure that sought to undo the sweeping tariffs President Donald Trump imposed on most countries this month failed in the GOP-led Senate on Wednesday.
The vote ended in a tie, 49-49, with three Republicans — Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joining all Democrats present in support of the resolution, which was designed to terminate the national emergency Trump declared to implement his global tariffs.
Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who voiced support for the measure, were absent for the vote. It needed a simple majority to pass.
Paul and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., used a legislative procedure to force a vote in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.
Later Wednesday evening, the Senate voted 50-49 — with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote — to table a Democratic motion that would allow them to force another vote next week on the tariffs resolution.
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Even if it passed, the resolution most likely wouldn't have been taken up in the GOP-controlled House. Republicans there recently voted to add a hurdle for lawmakers seeking to quickly take up resolutions related to Trump's tariff authority. The White House also said Tuesday that Trump would veto the resolution if it reached his desk.
In a 51-48 vote in early April, the Senate approved a similar but more limited resolution that aimed to block the U.S. tariffs on Canada. The three Republicans who joined with Democrats on Wednesday, along with McConnell, voted for that measure, too, offering a rare rebuke of Trump.
On the day most took effect this month, Trump abruptly announced that he would pause higher targeted tariffs for most countries for 90 days to allow for negotiations. Meanwhile, Trump raised tariffs on China to 145%.
The vote came the day the Commerce Department revealed that the U.S. economy contracted 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, a development that Trump and White House officials tried to downplay. In response, Trump told the public to "BE PATIENT!!!" on Truth Social.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly claimed in recent days that they've been making progress in negotiations to reach trade deals with some of the countries that have faced higher U.S. tariffs. But they haven't disclosed any details, and they have dodged questions about when exactly announcements could be made about agreements reached.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that countries are calling him to negotiate trade deals and that he is “optimistic” they will settle with several of them in the next few weeks, according to two senators who attended the meeting with Greer and Vance.
Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., criticized the senators who forced a vote Wednesday, saying it's wasting time.
“They know it’s not going to go anywhere. They know it’s not going to become law,” Barrasso told NBC News on Tuesday. “All they’re trying to do is slow down the process, preventing us from getting more members of the president’s leadership team confirmed and in place.”
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., also announced a bill targeting Trump's tariffs. Rather than halt them immediately, the measure would make the tariffs expire after 60 days unless Congress voted to explicitly approve them.
“I think the only thing that keeps us from growing bigger is that sort of the Grassley bill is an off-ramp for people who want to symbolically oppose the tariffs but don’t want to, in reality, stop them,” Paul said. “And they might want to, but they’re not willing to vote to stop them.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who faces a tough re-election race next year, said he continues to work with Grassley on his legislation, but he didn't support the measure from Paul and Wyden.
“It’s a political exercise,” Tillis said. “It has no hope in them in the House, and I don’t do messaging bills.”
