{"id":8083,"date":"2025-04-08T12:04:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T12:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-trumps-trade-rep-takes-the-hot-seat\/"},"modified":"2025-04-08T12:04:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T12:04:32","slug":"capitol-agenda-trumps-trade-rep-takes-the-hot-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-trumps-trade-rep-takes-the-hot-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: Trump\u2019s trade rep takes the hot seat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Republican senators desperate for an off-ramp to Trump\u2019s escalating trade war want to know Donald Trump\u2019s endgame now \u2014 even as GOP leaders pledge to give the president \u201cspace\u201d<\/a> to let his market-tanking tariff gamble play out.<\/p>\n

Expect it all to play out in front of Senate Finance, where Trump\u2019s top trade representative Jamieson Greer testifies starting at 10 a.m. It\u2019s the first of two annual Hill hearings this week on the president\u2019s trade policies that will now serve to show the scope of the fallout from Trump\u2019s blanket-tariff strategy.<\/p>\n

Republicans are eager to hear more about potential trade deals<\/a> that could help calm the markets. \u201cThe faster we can get some negotiations done and resolved, the better,\u201d committee member Sen. James Lankford told Blue Light News on Monday.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Greer plans to argue that Trump\u2019s tariff strategy is \u201calready bearing fruit,\u201d according to a copy of his prepared remarks<\/a> that we reviewed. \u201cNearly 50 countries have approached me to discuss the president\u2019s new policy and explore how to achieve reciprocity,\u201d he plans to say.<\/p>\n

But Trump is still playing coy about whether he intends to negotiate, even after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent\u2019s weekend warning to the president that he needs to focus more on cutting deals<\/a> or risk a further economic meltdown. Trump on Monday threatened to slap an additional 50 percent tariff on China, disparaged the idea of a trade deal with the European Union and did not announce a tariff agreement with Israel during a closely watched meeting with PM Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

Turning his attention to Blue Light News, he mocked his trade-policy critics as \u201cWeak and Stupid\u201d while pledging to veto bipartisan legislation from GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley \u2014 and backed by a half-dozen other Republicans \u2014 that would return some control over enacting tariffs to Congress. GOP Rep. Don Bacon is pursuing similar legislation in the House. Neither are likely to see floor action.<\/p>\n

The salvos appeared to have their intended effect: Outright breaks with Trump\u2019s brash trade policy remain limited inside the GOP. Greer has been a key part of the pacification effort \u2014 privately briefing Hill Republicans over the past few weeks in an attempt to assuage nervous free-market-supporting members.<\/p>\n

Greer can certainly expect a grilling from Senate Democrats. Ranking member Ron Wyden plans to slam the administration for offering \u201cno clear message\u201d about how Trump chose his tariff targets and how long he plans to keep them up, according to prepared remarks Blue Light News reviewed. Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 message: The blanket tariffs are \u201cillegal and another step toward authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else we’re watching: <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2013 Budget business: <\/b>GOP leaders are planning to bring the Senate-approved budget resolution to the Rules Committee today \u2014 but there are still plenty of hurdles to leap before a planned vote on Wednesday. Several hard-liners still want steeper spending cuts, even after Johnson stopped by the House Freedom Caucus<\/a> on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Trump\u2019s military moves: <\/b>Bipartisan concerns about reports that the Trump administration is considering major changes to military posture in Europe are likely to take center stage when House Armed Services hears today from the commander of U.S. forces in Europe, Gen. Christopher Cavoli. Chair Mike Rogers plans to raise his objections to a reduced U.S. role in Europe.<\/p>\n

\u2013 SNAP takes the spotlight: <\/b>House Agriculture will convene this morning<\/a> to discuss \u201cthe power of work\u201d related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program \u2014 the first public meeting this Congress about House Republicans\u2019 plan to cut agriculture spending.<\/p>\n

Jordain Carney, Daniel Desrochers, Joe Gould, Benjamin Guggenheim, Ari Hawkins, Connor O\u2019Brien, Jennifer Scholtes and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican senators desperate for an off-ramp to Trump\u2019s escalating trade war want to know Donald Trump\u2019s endgame now \u2014 even as GOP leaders pledge to give the president \u201cspace\u201d to let his market-tanking tariff gamble play out. Expect it all to play out in front of Senate Finance, where Trump\u2019s top trade representative Jamieson Greer […]<\/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-8083","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\/8083","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=8083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8083\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}