In a stunning rebuke to President Donald Trump’s bold new tariff plan aimed at rebalancing America’s broken trade system and protecting U.S. manufacturing, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has announced he has the votes in the Senate to pass a resolution that would effectively kill the America First tariffs.
CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju reported Monday that Paul expects the resolution to pass in the Senate this week and took direct aim at House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for working to block the measure in the House.
Paul attacked Johnson for “chicanery” and “dishonesty” for inserting a provision in House rules that would prevent the anti-tariff resolution from being considered.
“I would call it chicanery. I would call it dishonesty. I mean, it’s just a terrible idea that he’s actually overturning the law with a rule,” Paul said.
“I would call it chicanery. I would call it dishonesty,” Paul said of Johnson’s move to tuck a provison blocking tariff resolutions into a rule. “I mean, it’s just a terrible idea that he’s actually overturning the law with a rule.”
– Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 28, 2025
Senator Paul’s surprising alliance with some of the Senate’s most radical Democrats is raising red flags among conservatives who view it as another betrayal of President Trump’s America First agenda.
Earlier this month, Paul joined Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) to release a privileged resolution that would terminate the emergency declaration used by Trump to impose tariffs of up to 49% on foreign goods.
The so-called “bipartisan” coalition claims they are fighting for constitutional principles and consumer prices.
But their actions will only embolden globalist trade regimes, gut American manufacturing, and undermine President Trump’s ability to defend U.S. interests on the world stage.
“Tariffs are taxes, and the power to tax belongs to Congress—not the president. Our Founders were clear: tax policy should never rest in the hands of one person,” Paul said.
He continued, “Abusing emergency powers to impose blanket tariffs not only drives up costs for American families but also tramples on the Constitution. It’s time Congress reasserts its authority and restores the balance of power.”
The White House isn’t standing down. In a fiery statement of policy released Monday, the Office of Management and Budget said President Trump will veto the resolution if it reaches his desk, slamming the bill as a gift to foreign adversaries.
“This resolution would undermine the administration’s efforts to address the unusual and extraordinary threats to national security and economic stability, posed by the conditions reflected in the large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficit,” the administration wrote per Politico.
“It added that “there can be no doubt that S.J. Res. 49 — if passed — would undermine U.S. national and economic security. If S.J. Res. 49 were presented to the president, he would veto it.”
