Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said he will not support a move to enact President Donald Trump's tariffs into law following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn them Friday.
"Oh, I don't think they have the votes," Bacon told the Washington Examiner minutes after the court's 6-3 decision that Trump overstepped his authority in enacting the tariffs.
While some Republicans, including Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, have called for the Senate to use reconciliation to enact the tariffs, the GOP has only a one-seat majority in the House.
Bacon previously joined six House Republicans in voting to repeal Trump's tariffs on Canada.
"I can see doing, you know, some targeted tariffs on countries that aren't treating us right, but that's not what the president was doing," Bacon said.
The congressman, who is retiring at the end of this term, said he told the White House to bring tariffs on Russia and China to Congress, but said he does not believe they will take that approach.
"Why don't you work with us and draft legislation with us, and we'll pass it," Bacon said. "But that would be an admission that they need us on tariffs, so they don't like that."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Congress and the Trump administration would determine the path forward in the coming weeks.
"No one can deny that the President's use of tariffs has brought in billions of dollars and created immense leverage for America's trade strategy and for securing strong, reciprocal America-first trade agreements with countries that had been taking advantage of American workers for decades," Johnson said in a statement.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Trump announced he would impose a 10% global tariff via different executive authority.
Bacon said prior to Trump's announcement he would rather the president work with Congress than impose tariffs himself.
"Because we'll go down the same path, because there will be constitutional issues," Bacon said to the Examiner, calling the Supreme Court's ruling a vindication of congressional authority.
"They can try to package it a different way, and I think they'll get the same results from the Supreme Court.
"I think Congress should not just say, 'We're not going to defend our own authorities; we just hope the court does.' No, we should stand up on our own two feet and defend our authorities."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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