{"id":17965,"date":"2026-01-21T02:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T02:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/trumps-greenland-tariffs-could-squeeze-hill-republicans\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T02:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T02:47:20","slug":"trumps-greenland-tariffs-could-squeeze-hill-republicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/trumps-greenland-tariffs-could-squeeze-hill-republicans\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Greenland tariffs could squeeze Hill Republicans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s threat to weaponize steep new tariffs as part of his bid to acquire Greenland could soon put queasy Republicans on the spot.<\/p>\n

House and Senate Democrats plan to force votes as soon as next month to block the European tariffs Trump announced over the weekend, according to two aides granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling. That, for now, is likely to be the main avenue of congressional accountability as the president amps up his campaign targeting the icy Danish territory.<\/p>\n

Democrats are waiting for Trump to file his executive order, but once he does, a resolution would ripen about 20 days later, according to one Senate aide granted anonymity to describe internal planning.<\/p>\n

While some lawmakers have floated using the spending legislation now moving through Congress ahead of next week\u2019s government funding deadline as a way to block Trump, leaders of both parties are wary of taking any steps that could lead to a government shutdown. And, as POLITICO first reported<\/a>, Danish officials have privately urged against forcing a vote on a separate war powers authorization unless it has overwhelming bipartisan support.<\/p>\n

But the 10 percent tariffs threatened against Denmark, France, Germany, the U.K. and four other countries that recently sent a small contingent of troops to Greenland offer a clear opportunity for congressional pushback from Republicans uneasy about the geopolitics of Trump\u2019s audacious demands, their own free-trade views or a combination of both.<\/p>\n

The Greenland reckoning comes as the House prepares to come off the sidelines on the gamut of Trump\u2019s second-term tariffs. Speaker Mike Johnson has so far been able to shield Trump \u2014 and his own GOP members \u2014 from a direct confrontation over the president’s aggressive levies, which have sparked private heartburn among some Republicans.<\/p>\n

But that appears to be coming to an end. A procedural maneuver that blocked efforts to cancel prior Trump tariffs expires next week, and Republicans have no firm plan to extend<\/a> the protections for the president. Already one House Republican \u2014 Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska \u2014 says he is likely to oppose any effort by Johnson to block a cancellation of the Greenland-related tariffs from coming to the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s crazy \u2014 they’re an ally, and we\u2019ve alienated our good friends,\u201d Bacon said Tuesday about Trump\u2019s move targeting the Danes and other NATO countries that have backed them.<\/p>\n

With Republicans holding a threadbare House majority, and Democrats outnumbering them on some days, even one or two GOP defectors might be able to quash any effort to prevent a tariff vote.<\/p>\n

Three Republicans voted in September against Johnson\u2019s last effort<\/a>to block tariff votes: Reps. Kevin Kiley of California, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who could be likely allies of Bacon.<\/p>\n

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) also said he would oppose any effort to prevent tariff votes and doesn’t support the president’s plan to impose new trade levies on European countries over Greenland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the Trump economic policies overall are having a tremendous positive effect on the economy. I think the tariffs are hurting. And when you’re trying to accelerate, it doesn’t make much sense to tap on the brakes,\u201d McClintock said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said Trump\u2019s plan to slap financial penalties on European allies over Greenland is a \u201cbad idea\u201d and that he wants to know the rationale for preventing a vote on blocking them. Fitzpatrick didn\u2019t say how he would vote if he had the chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sense is that he\u2019s trying to gain leverage, but I still don\u2019t support the rhetoric,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cDenmark has given us full access to the country, they\u2019re a NATO ally. There\u2019s no reason for any of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans are already on edge as they await a ruling from the Supreme Court about Trump\u2019s ability to use emergency powers to implement tariffs at will. The justices skipped an opportunity to issue a decision Tuesday, and it could be a month or more before they rule.<\/p>\n

Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) said the legality of Trump\u2019s latest tariff threat over Greenland is \u201ca question that I have not seen answered yet.\u201d He said he was wary of allowing a president to deploy tariffs as a way to secure new territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if it\u2019s to address trade imbalances or trade abuses \u2026 then that\u2019s the sort of thing where tariffs are certainly appropriate,” Hurd said. \u201cOutside of that context, I think it gets more problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson largely sidestepped a question Tuesday night on Trump\u2019s threat to use tariffs as the latest salvo in his bid to acquire Greenland. He downplayed the odds of a conflict, saying that the U.S. has \u201cgreat allies\u201d and \u201ceverybody there wants to work towards a solution together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate is likely to pass a resolution to block the Greenland-related tariffs when it comes up for a vote. Already three Republicans \u2014 Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina \u2014 have publicly bashed Trump\u2019s tariffs and urged Congress to take back its institutional prerogatives. Democrats would only need to pick up four GOP votes, and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have both been publicly critical of Trump\u2019s Greenland threats and previously supported resolutions targeting Trump\u2019s other tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way we are going about projecting power in the Arctic is costly, divisive and unnecessary,\u201d Tillis said during a Blue Light News panel Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

The House and Senate both voting to block Trump\u2019s tariffs would be a significant moment \u2014 marking the first time both chambers have moved to check Trump’s most controversial trade tactic. But the president would surely veto such an effort, and there are no signs he is yet facing the type of GOP jailbreak that would allow Congress to override him.<\/p>\n

But forcing a vote stands to make things uncomfortable for those in the GOP who have tried to telegraph their discomfort with the Greenland push without fully breaking with Trump.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), for instance, sidestepped weighing in directly on Trump\u2019s latest tariff threat Tuesday, instead saying that the president has \u201cbeen a strong supporter of tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve had a great relationship with them in the past, and there’s a significant military presence,\u201d Barrasso added on Greenland. \u201cWe need to build on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Democrats, meanwhile, are seizing on the momentum to try to squeeze their GOP counterparts.<\/p>\n

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, recited Tillis\u2019 and Murkowski\u2019s remarks during a meeting of the panel Tuesday. He pressed Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska, a tariff-skeptical Republican who was testifying on an unrelated bill, whether he would support an effort by Johnson to block a vote on the Greenland-related tariffs.<\/p>\n

Smith said he would \u201cprefer to vote on tariffs, certainly,\u201d while adding he would need to look over any new language before making a commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting to have this discussion,\u201d Smith said, later adding: \u201cI\u2019ve been on the record for saying I\u2019m not a fan of tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s threat to weaponize steep new tariffs as part of his bid to acquire Greenland could soon put queasy Republicans on the spot. House and Senate Democrats plan to force votes as soon as next month to block the European tariffs Trump announced over the weekend, according to two aides granted anonymity to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}