Senate: GOP caucus defies White House, votes against Trump's Canada tariffs

The House approved a resolution pushed by Democrat Tim Kaine (Virginia) that seeks to end the emergency powers used by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Canada. The measure won bipartisan backing after a small group of Republican senators again joined Democrats in a vote challenging the president's trade strategy.

Republican senators Susan Collins (Maine), Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) broke from the party line to support the resolution.

The vote came just a day after the upper chamber passed a similar resolution regarding tariffs on Brazil, marking two consecutive symbolic defeats for the president's trade policy.

Dissent despite White House pressure.

Vice President JD Vance attempted, unsuccessfully, to convince Republicans to vote against the measure during a lunch with the party bloc. Vance warned that it would be a "huge mistake" to break with the White House and defended Trump's tariff policy as a negotiating tool to reach better trade deals.

Despite the pressure, Rand Paul—co-sponsor of the resolution—reaffirmed his opposition to the tariffs, arguing that they are a tax on U.S. consumers, not foreigners. He further stressed that allowing the Executive to impose taxes under emergency powers contradicts constitutional principles, recalling that "taxes must originate in the House of Representatives."

Economic impact and future of the measure

This is the second of three resolutions introduced by Kaine and several Democratic senators to repeal Trump's tariff powers. Although the Senate succeeded in passing it, the initiative is expected to face further hurdles in the House of Representatives.

With this vote, the Senate is once again sending a clear message about the limits of executive power on trade issues, at a time when the debate over protectionism and relations with traditional allies is once again dividing Washington.