{"id":19187,"date":"2026-02-20T22:01:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/republicans-quietly-celebrate-the-demise-of-tariffs-that-relief-might-not-last\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T22:01:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:01:39","slug":"republicans-quietly-celebrate-the-demise-of-tariffs-that-relief-might-not-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/republicans-quietly-celebrate-the-demise-of-tariffs-that-relief-might-not-last\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans quietly celebrate the demise of tariffs. That relief might not last."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Republicans quietly breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs on Friday \u2014 but that feeling may prove fleeting.<\/p>\n

The court’s decision to upend Trump\u2019s global tariffs comes as affordability concerns and the cost of living continue to galvanize voters ahead of the midterms. Many free trade-friendly Republicans spent the past year worrying that the tariffs would drive prices higher, destabilize the economy and hurt their hopes of hanging onto control of Congress this November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s very possible that the Supreme Court just threw Trump’s economy a life preserver, and the president is refusing it and demanding an anchor. These tariffs economically have not played well into the affordability narrative,\u201d said Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump State Department official. \u201cIt just has not been helpful \u2014 full stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s hard line on tariffs has proven particularly difficult for some GOP candidates to navigate in battleground states where manufacturing and agricultural industries have been hit the hardest by the trade measures. Several of Trump\u2019s allies in farm country and Republicans encouraged him to pump the brakes Friday and reassess his path forward.<\/p>\n

But the president\u2019s announcement of a 10 percent global tariff immediately after the ruling had them back on their guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have very powerful alternatives,\u201d Trump said in a press conference Friday afternoon, announcing he will sign the new tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 \u2013 and rejecting the possibility of legislating a new measure through Congress. “I don’t need to,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s already been approved.”<\/p>\n

Only minutes earlier, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had suggested in a post on X that<\/a>Congress would work with the administration to find \u201cthe best path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polling shows that Trump\u2019s tariffs are broadly unpopular. A 45 percent plurality of Americans said in a November POLITICO Poll<\/a> that higher tariffs are damaging the U.S. economy \u2014 in both the short and long term. That view falls along partisan lines, with Democrats far more likely to say the levies are damaging the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n

Still, roughly a quarter of Trump\u2019s own 2024 voters agree. Among Republicans who do not identify as \u201cMAGA\u201d \u2014 a much more malleable group of voters \u2014 opposition to the levies rose. Thirty-two percent of non-MAGA Republicans said the higher tariffs are damaging the economy in both the short and the long term, compared with just 21 percent of self-identifying MAGA Republicans.<\/p>\n

Despite Americans\u2019 overall disapproval of the White House\u2019s tariff agenda, Trump remains bullish on his approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout tariffs, this country would be in such trouble right now,\u201d he said in a Thursday speech before a crowd gathered at a factory in northwest Georgia. \u201cI\u2019ve won affordability,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But the uncertainty around what comes next on tariffs has some Republicans questioning why the administration didn\u2019t go through Congress from the start, instead choosing a legally riskier route that has left at least a temporary vacuum at the heart of their economic agenda in an election year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy must we fuck ourselves?\u201d rhetorically asked one GOP official, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak openly about their concerns with the White House\u2019s economic agenda. \u201cHe should\u2019ve gotten congressional approval. Now it\u2019s destabilized the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the ruling, while Congressional Republicans had occasionally grumbled about the policy, they had largely fallen in line when actually required to vote on it. Now, the Supreme Court\u2019s decision could put more pressure on them to break with the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have so much overlap between people who support the president, and people who are hurt worst by the tariffs themselves,\u201d said one longtime GOP strategist in Iowa. \u201cThat\u2019s why the criticism has always been somewhat muted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic candidates are quickly taking advantage of that. DCCC spokesperson Courtney Rice said the decision \u201cmakes crystal clear the need for Congress to exercise its constitutional authority over trade policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat running for Senate in Michigan, said \u201cthe damage has already been done\u201d by the tariffs. And Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), running for Senate, released a statement saying his opponents \u201care running to push Donald Trump\u2019s agenda,\u201d whereas he will work to \u201crectify the damage that Trump\u2019s tariffs have caused our state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even historically protectionist-leaning Democrats took shots at Trump. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said in the ruling\u2019s wake that his opponent, Sen. John Husted (R-Ohio), was \u201conce again doubling down on his support for reckless tariffs that are raising costs and sending Ohio farmers into bankruptcy.\u201d (Husted, for his part, said in a statement<\/a> that he respects the court\u2019s decision.)<\/p>\n

“Not only do voters hate these tariffs because they’ve raised costs, but now the Supreme Court has said they’re illegal,\u201d said Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson. \u201cEvery Republican in 2026 has a Scarlett \u2018T\u2019 on their chest.”<\/p>\n

Some Republicans had already publicly questioned the president\u2019s authority to unilaterally impose blanket duties on trading partners without seeking approval from Congress. For them, the ruling proved a win on constitutional grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel vindicated as I\u2019ve been saying this for the last 12 months,\u201d said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) on X<\/a>, one of the few House Republicans who has repeatedly opposed Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a>. \u201cIn the future, Congress should defend its own authorities and not rely on the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six House Republicans voted alongside Democrats last week to condemn<\/a> Trump\u2019s tariffs on Canada, sending the measure to the Senate, which has already seen significant GOP defection in other votes<\/a> on the duty measures. Senior House Democrats have vowed to bring up at least three more similar resolutions<\/a> that will force GOP members to choose between their adherence to free trade principles and their MAGA base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of members of Congress excited to see that the tariffs are temporarily not in effect. It has been a pinch at home and it\u2019s been hard to message around,\u201d added one Republican strategist involved with House races. \u201cIt gives them some breathing room. It gives them a little bit more leeway in that affordability message.\u201d<\/p>\n

In agriculture-heavy states, the tariffs have been felt acutely in recent months. The Trump administration approved a $12 billion bailout<\/a> for farmers in December and Hill Republicans are considering a second tranche<\/a>, though that has yet to pass.<\/p>\n

American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall \u2014 a frequent ally of Trump\u2019s \u2014 released a statement Friday afternoon urging Trump to pump the brakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith supply costs already at or near record highs, we strongly encourage the president to avoid using any other available authorities to impose tariffs on agricultural inputs that would further increase costs,\u201d Duvall said. \u201cAmerica\u2019s farmers and ranchers need stability to ensure families across America can put food on their tables.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a long time until November\u2019s midterms. But in battleground races where tariffs pinched the most, the recent memory of trade adventurism and the ongoing dissatisfaction with the current state of the economy could prove fatal for Republicans, said Wisconsin-based GOP strategist Craig Peterson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this last year with all the tariffs and increased costs, it’s going to take a little while for folks to forget about that,\u201d Peterson said, noting Election Day is less than nine months away. \u201cThat’s not real long, unfortunately, for the Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erin Doherty, Elena Schneider, Lisa Kashinsky and Adam Wren contributed reporting.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republicans quietly breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs on Friday \u2014 but that feeling may prove fleeting. The court’s decision to upend Trump\u2019s global tariffs comes as affordability concerns and the cost of living continue to galvanize voters ahead of the midterms. Many free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19187","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=19187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}