WASHINGTON — House Republicans quietly approved a measure to block any effort to terminate President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration used to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
Lawmakers narrowly approved a rule-setting measure on Tuesday afternoon, a necessary vote to set the parameters for debate and final consideration of bills on the voting schedule for the week. That procedural vote, known as “the rule,” bills cannot be considered on the floor.
The rule in question was to advance a slate of bills related to crime policies in Washington, D.C., which has become a major focus for Republicans in recent weeks.
Before advancing the rule on Monday evening, Republican leaders tucked in language unrelated to the week’s legislative agenda that would extend a previously approved resolution blocking any action related to Trump’s emergency order and subsequent tariffs. The initial resolution, passed in April, is scheduled to expire at the end of September but has now been extended until March 31, 2026.
The rule did not pass easily, however. Six Republicans initially voted against the procedural motion, joining all Democrats in tanking the measure altogether. That forced GOP leaders into an impromptu negotiation that lasted 46 minutes on the floor — long past the five minutes originally allotted.
House leaders eventually convinced three of the six Republicans to switch their votes, leaving only Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., to oppose the measure. The final vote was 213-211.
However, Bacon later said he secured an agreement from GOP leadership to vote on another procedural vote this week that would shorten the timeframe of the tariff resolution.
The language addresses opposition from both Democrats and Republicans who have lamented that the tariffs — particularly those against Mexico and Canada — have raised prices of groceries and other consumer goods.
The vote also comes after a recent report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicting Trump’s tariffs will be partially responsible for job losses and higher inflation rates over the next year.
Republicans have been repeatedly squeezed on the issue of tariffs, most recently on Monday when the House GOP narrowly defeated a measure to terminate Trump’s tariff declaration by a 200-198 vote. Only two Republicans bucked party lines to reject an effort by GOP leadership to table the motion: Massie and Bacon.
All Utah House members voted to table the termination proposal.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is pushing for a vote to terminate the national emergencies that have greenlit Trump’s tariffs — which the Virginia Democrat has done several times despite Republicans repeatedly rejecting, instead saying they’d defer to the president.