Summary
Ted Cruz warned that Trump’s tariffs could trigger a GOP “bloodbath” in the 2026 midterms, citing inflation and market fallout as major risks.
On his Verdict podcast, Cruz criticized tariffs as taxes on consumers and urged they be short-lived.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 plunged nearly 10% over two days. Senator Rand Paul and others echoed concerns, with Paul warning tariffs could add $5,000–$15,000 to car prices.
Senator Chuck Grassley has introduced a bill requiring congressional approval of tariffs within 60 days or automatic expiration.
The people complaining are literally the only people with the power to actually do something about it.
All of this could end tomorrow.
I will guarantee you can get all Democrats on board with a bill that reclaims the power of levying tariffs as outlined in Article 1 of the Constitution. Reclaim the powers and nullify all tariffs that have been imposed by Trump since his inauguration. Even half of Republicans and all Democrats would be enough to cover the 2/3 in the Senate needed to override a Trump veto.
That’s it. That’s all it would take and this whole thing would be over. But anyone in the GOP that is complaining about these tariffs while holding the power to actually do something about it isn’t actually complaining. It’s performance art. Don’t listen to what they say, look at how they vote. If they’re saying they’re against it while voting in favor of it, they’re lying to you.
And these people are all lying to you. They will vote in lockstep when push comes to shove.
Republicans, and authoritarians more generally, value group solidarity more than anything else. They are in a very real and very important sense stupid, bad, people.
Unfortunately the damage has been done. Even if it’s reverses, most foreign investors aren’t coming back to the US market
There’s a bipartisan bill in the Senate right now to force the tariffs to expire after 60 days if not approved by Congress. So they’re at least putting on a show of doing something. It mentioned it on the blurb up top
These republicans twice literally just had to say one word, “yes,” when the impeachment votes happened in the Senate, and Trump would never have had power over them (and us) again, like magic.
Why stop with trump’s tariffs?
Dems actually did introduce a bill to do essentially that in the Senate for tarrifs on Canada. It passed 51-48 with only 4 republicans breaking rank. Notably in this case, Ted Cruz voted against that bill
I should note it’s unlikely Mike Johnson will ever put it up for a vote in the house. If he did and it passed, it will likely get vetoed. Without more republicans breaking rank it’s not going to be able to get to the 2/3 of congress needed to veto override
Need to see more republicans with spines for this bill to get through
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00160.htm
If their masters tell them to vote against tariffs, they’ll do so. These politicians hold no actual power. They are the mouthpieces standing in front of the monsters who hold actual power. And they don’t give a shit about anyone or anything.