Mike Johnson admits Trump's tariffs are dead on arrival in Congress
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Monday that he doubted Congress would pass any legislation to reinstate President Donald Trump's tariff policy following the Supreme Court decision last week that the president's levies were illegal.
He described how it would be unlikely for lawmakers to reverse that decision, Politico reported.
“It’s going to be, I think, a challenge to find consensus on any path forward on the tariffs, on the legislative side,” Johnson said. “And so that is why, I think, you see so much of the attention on the executive side, the executive branch, and what they’re doing and how they’re reacting to the ruling.”
And although some Republicans have suggested a second path with a budget reconciliation process following the high court's ruling, Johnson still didn't think it would happen.
“I’m not sure it has much to do with reconciliation,” Johnson said.
Trump this weekend said he would raise tariffs to 15 percent globally, which are slated to expire in 150 days. After that, lawmakers would need to extend those levies. However, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the conversations, Republicans have said privately they do not expect to have the support to do so, and senior GOP leaders don't have plans to continue the Trump tariff agenda, Politico reported.
It was also unclear how potential refunds would work following the Supreme Court decision, which Congress will not be handling, Johnson added.
“The White House is going to sort that out, and we have to give them the time and space to do it,” Johnson said. “This is an unprecedented event, of course, so there’s no playbook to follow. I think they’ve got good arguments on their side, and we’ll see how it shakes out. That’s not something that really involves the House at this point.”