The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Republicans in the United States Senate are scrambling to reduce the influence of Trump trade adviser and convicted criminal Peter Navarro.
At issue, reports the Journal, is that many of these senators are worried that Navarro will push Trump to enact maximal tariffs on foreign products, which will wind up hurting their states.
At the center of their efforts are the confirmations of U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, both of whom they view as strong counterweights to Navarro's absolutist strain of protectionism.
"We gotta get Greer confirmed," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said when asked about concerns about Navarro. "There are some people advising the president who view every tariff as found money. ... There are revenues to be derived from tariffs, but they have to be discounted against markets closing."
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Even more MAGA-friendly lawmakers such as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) expressed wariness about giving Navarro too much influence over trade policy.
“Even the president has admitted there’s going to be pain [from tariffs], and I think in Wisconsin we’re going to have a lot of people experiencing that pain,” he said. "I’m hoping the administration is going to be sensitive to that and help alleviate that."
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who still takes the old-school Republican line on supporting free trade, also expressed misgivings about the president's trade agenda given how it played out in his state the last time it was enacted.
“In my state, farmers say that tariffs hurt them, and they’re still hurting them from the tariffs on China back in 2018," he said.
