Scoop: Senate Dems launching last-ditch bid to block Trump tariffs
Why it matters: Democrats, who argue Trump's tariffs could add $2,400 to the average American household expenses, are making signs of economic angst a centerpiece of their 2026 midterm messaging.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on Wednesday evening will ask lawmakers to unanimously pass a bill affirming that the tariffs can't be authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Axios has learned.
That's the law the administration is citing as giving it the authority to impose the levies.
Friday is the date when tariffs rise for dozens of countries, as threatened by Trump in letters earlier this month. Many are lower than the rates he first imposed in April, though some are higher.
Driving the news: It will take just one lawmaker to block Shaheen's move, and Republicans will almost certainly do so. But it gives Democrats the opportunity to get Republicans on the record in support of the tariff hikes.
Shaheen's move comes one day before a federal appellate court hears arguments on whether to overturn a lower-court ruling that the IEEPA tariffs were illegal.
Zoom out: The unanimous consent request is part of broader anti-tariff push that Democrats will hold on the Senate floor on Wednesday evening, according to people familiar with the matter.
Shaheen will lead a half dozen Democratic senators in highlighting the impact the duties will have on working families.
"And now, on Friday, the Administration is planning to make the goods businesses and families need 10, or 30 or even 40 percent more expensive overnight," Shaheen will say, according to remarks shared with Axios.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
a minute ago
- Los Angeles Times
State Department may require visa applicants to post bond of up to $15,000 to enter the U.S.
WASHINGTON — The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, a move that may make the process unaffordable for many. In a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the department said it would start a 12-month pilot program under which people from countries deemed to have high overstay rates and deficient internal document security controls could be required to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 when they apply for a visa. The proposal comes as the Trump administration is tightening requirements for visa applicants. Last week, the State Department announced that many visa renewal applicants would have to submit to an additional in-person interview, something that was not required in the past. In addition, the department is proposing that applicants for the Visa Diversity Lottery program have valid passports from their country of citizenship. A preview of the bond notice, which was posted on the Federal Register website on Monday, said the pilot program would take effect within 15 days of its formal publication and is necessary to ensure that the U.S. government is not financially liable if a visitor does not comply with the terms of his or her visa. 'Aliens applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure and who are nationals of countries identified by the department as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient, or offering citizenship by investment, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, may be subject to the pilot program,' the notice said. The countries affected will be listed once the program takes effect, it said. The bond would not apply to citizens of countries enrolled in the Visa Waiver Program and could be waived for others depending on an applicant's individual circumstances. Visa bonds have been proposed in the past but have not been implemented. The State Department has traditionally discouraged the requirement because of the cumbersome process of posting and discharging a bond and because of a possible misperceptions by the public. However, the department said that previous view 'is not supported by any recent examples or evidence, as visa bonds have not generally been required in any recent period.' Lee writes for the Associated Press.
Boston Globe
a minute ago
- Boston Globe
August recess can't hide tensions ahead for Congress on spending and Trump nominations
Lawmakers will use much of September to work on spending bills for the coming budget year, which begins Oct. 1. They likely will need to pass a short-term spending measure to keep the government funded for a few weeks while they work on a longer-term measure that covers the full year. It's not unusual for leaders from both parties to blame the other party for a potential shutdown, but the rhetoric began extra early this year, signaling the threat of a stoppage is more serious than usual. Advertisement On Monday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries sent their Republican counterparts a sharply-worded letter calling for a meeting to discuss 'the government funding deadline and the health care crisis you have visited upon the American people.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up They said it will take bipartisanship to avert a 'painful, unnecessary shutdown.' 'Yet it is clear that the Trump Administration and many in your party are preparing to go it alone and continue to legislate on a solely Republican basis,' said the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Republicans have taken note of the warnings and are portraying the Democrats as itching for a shutdown they hope to blame on the GOP. Advertisement 'It was disturbing to hear the Democrat leader threaten to shut down the government in his July 8 Dear Colleague letter,' Thune said on Saturday. '... I really hope that Democrats will not embrace that position but will continue to work with Republicans to fund the government.' Different approaches from the House and Senate So far, the House has approved two of the 12 annual spending bills, mostly along party lines. The Senate has passed three on a strongly bipartisan basis. The House is pursuing steep, non-defense spending cuts. The Senate is rejecting many of those cuts. One side will have to give. And any final bill will need some Democratic support to generate the 60 votes necessary to get a spending measure to the finish line. Some Democratic senators are also wanting assurances from Republicans that there won't be more efforts in the coming weeks to claw back or cancel funding already approved by Congress. 'If Republicans want to make a deal, then let's make a deal, but only if Republicans include an agreement they won't take back that deal a few weeks later,' said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., a veteran member of the House Appropriations committee, said the Democratic minority in both chambers has suffered so many legislative losses this year, 'that they are stuck between a rock and their voting base.' Democrats may want to demonstrate more resistance to Trump, but they would rue a shutdown, he warned. 'The reality would be, if the government were shut down, the administration, Donald Trump, would have the ability to decide where to spend and not spend,' Fleischmann said. 'Schumer knows that, Jeffries knows that. We know that. I think it would be much more productive if we start talking about a short-term (continuing resolution.)' Advertisement Republican angry about pace of nominations Republicans are considering changes to Senate rules to get more of Trump's nominees confirmed. Thune said last week that during the same point in Joe Biden's presidency, 49 of his 121 civilians nominees had been confirmed on an expedited basis through a voice vote or a unanimous consent request. Trump has had none of his civilian nominees confirmed on an expedited basis. Democrats have insisted on roll call votes for all of them, a lengthy process than can take days. 'I think they're desperately in need of change,' Thune said of Senate rules for considering nominees. 'I think that the last six months have demonstrated that this process, nominations is broken. And so I expect there will be some good robust conversations about that.' Schumer said a rules change would be a 'huge mistake,' especially as Senate Republicans will need Democratic votes to pass spending bills and other legislation moving forward. The Senate held a rare weekend session as Republicans worked to get more of Trump's nominees confirmed. Negotiations focused on advancing dozens of additional Trump nominees in exchange for some concessions on releasing some already approved spending. At times, lawmakers spoke of progress on a potential deal. But it was clear that there would be no agreement when Trump attacked Schumer on social media Saturday evening and told Republicans to pack it up and go home. 'Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!' Trump posted on Truth Social. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report. Advertisement
Miami Herald
a minute ago
- Miami Herald
South Floridians spend more on transportation than almost anyone else in U.S.
Driving in South Florida can be harrowing — and costly. Of residents in the 10 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, Miamians tie Houstonians for spending the most on transportation. Roughly 20% of what people residing in Greater Miami spend each year goes toward getting around, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On average, that's more than $14,400 per household in the tri-county area of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Americans in general are spending more on cars now than almost ever before. According to Kelley Blue Book, new car buyers paid almost $50,000 per purchase at the end of 2024, just under 2022 highs, when supply chain disruptions led to shortages of new vehicles on the market. And that number doesn't yet take into account the Trump administration's 15% tariffs on auto imports from Japan and the European Union, said Chairman Howard Dvorkin. Those costs hit especially hard in Greater Miami, where residents generally earn less than their counterparts across the country. Tri-county residents' net automobile expenditures — the difference between what they paid for their cars and what they recouped by selling their old ones — accounted for nearly half of Miamians' transportation costs and 9% of their total annual expenses, again tying Houston, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Necessity explains part of that expenditure, said Cathy Dos Santos, director of Transit Alliance Miami, a local nonprofit promoting walkability, bikeability and better public transit. Greater Miami, she noted, offers few practical alternatives to driving. 'We're asking people to choose between paying really high costs for transportation by having to own or lease their car,' Dos Santos said, 'versus spending sometimes twice as long using public transit to get around.' Unsurprisingly, most stick to their cars. And given how far many South Floridians have to travel to get to work, it's hard to blame them. Census data shows that more than half of tri-county workers commute at least 10 miles to get to work. Nearly 15% have a 50-plus mile commute. Compounding those distances is often-grinding traffic. According to INRIX, a traffic-data analytics company, Miami is the 14th most car-congested city on Earth, with local drivers spending the equivalent of nearly three days a year stuck in traffic. And those cars, whether they're actually moving or idling, need fuel — another big line-item for locals. Gas eats up roughly 4% of Greater Miamians' annual household spending, one of the highest shares among major U.S. metro areas, according to the Census Bureau. They also need to be insured. Due largely to the higher risk of severe weather conditions and rates of uninsured drivers, Floridians pay more than $3,200 in car insurance premiums — the second most in the country behind Louisianians — according to MarketWatch. But beyond necessity, culture can explain some of those high costs, says Dvorkin. 'A lot has to do with image,' he said, observing that South Floridians tend to 'like fancy cars,' even if their checking accounts are dwindling. Fancy or not, South Floridians need cars to get around because much of where they live is built for and around automobiles, said Dos Santos. That's something local governments can take steps to correct. Low-density, sprawling housing — a large portion of the tri-county's housing stock — makes it difficult for people to live within walking or biking distance of work, or even regular errands, she said. Denser, multi-use zoning can make it easier for people to meet their needs within a walk or short public transit commute of where they live, Dos Santos noted. That, along with investment in capital projects that can improve public transit across South Florida, could ultimately reduce what residents pay. But they're longer-term projects. In the immediate future, Dos Santos said, local governments can invest in cheaper, high-impact 'small infrastructure' — bike lanes, sidewalks and improved pedestrian street crossings to make non-car transit, which is the cheapest way to get around, more attractive, especially for short trips. But for those who drive dozens of miles just to get to work, as many South Floridians do, their employers can play an important role in reducing transportation costs, said United Way of Florida CEO Melissa Nelson. By providing gas or bus cards — if employees have convenient access to mass transit — for example, employers can help ease their workers' transportation cost burdens. For workers receiving government assistance, those perks can help offset costs without increasing their taxable income. That distinction is crucial. Sometimes, slight increases in income can cost assistance recipients thousands of dollars in lost benefits by pushing them over eligibility thresholds — a phenomenon known as a 'benefits cliff.' But perhaps most critically, offering flexibility — especially for work that doesn't necessarily need to be done in person or at a specific time — is key to reducing time and money spent on transportation, Nelson said. Such adaptability is especially invaluable for families with children that need to be picked up from childcare or school. Ultimately, she said, helping workers remove transportation barriers opens doors to personal and professional development. 'People who are stuck in their car for three hours a day' can't invest in themselves, said Nelson. 'They're not doing any continuing education, which means they're not training for the job that you might like them to move into.' This story was produced with financial support from supporters including The Green Family Foundation Trust and Ken O'Keefe, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
