Republican bill greenlights Trump’s inflationary, market-crashing tariffs

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) urged his colleagues to stand up to President Trump and his continued disregard for the separation of powers.

“The Constitution explicitly gives Congress the “power of the purse” – the responsibility to decide taxes and spending. In President Trump’s first 50 days, he has repeatedly and unlawfully ordered the administration to withhold funds Congress appropriated. Imagine how Republicans would react if Barack Obama or Joe Biden withheld farm subsidies from states that did not support them in the election. Republicans would state that the President was trying to usurp their Constitutional authority. That is exactly what President Trump is doing across the federal government, with Congressional Republicans hooting and hollering in support.

“Not only are House Republicans refusing to stand up to President Trump on his spending cuts, but they are also ceding Congress’s power to review his tariffs. At the last second, Speaker Johnson slipped in a provision to strip Congress of its ability to cancel Trump’s tariffs, which will cost consumers thousands of dollars on home products, electricity, gas, housing, and groceries. Congressional Republicans own any move Trump makes in his costly trade war against our allies.

“President Trump and Elon Musk have cited “massive fraud,” without evidence, as their reason for stopping funds. In case after case, what they have actually “uncovered” are programs they do not support. It is their right to disagree with what we spend on, but they have no right to unilaterally cut off funding approved by Congress. If they want to cut spending, they have the opportunity to present their budget to Congress right now and negotiate. The Republican bill does not prevent a shutdown. It lets President Trump and Elon Musk shut down whichever part of the government they want, whenever they want.

“President Trump is in the White House and Republicans control the House and Senate — if there is a shutdown, it falls squarely on their shoulders. Democrats stand ready to work with Republicans to fund the government and avoid a disastrous shutdown, but House Republicans have decided to go it alone. We do not work for the President, we work with him. We were elected independently from the President and answer to our constituents, not him.”

You can find more information about the Republican Continuing Resolution here.

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