GOP defectors help spike House measure to block tariff disapproval votes

The vote was originally slated for early afternoon, but House Republicans rescheduled it for Tuesday night.

Johnson earlier on Tuesday said he expected the measure to pass and that the rationale for the vote this week was “to allow the Supreme Court to rule on the pending case.” The Supreme Court is considering a legal challenge to Trump’s tariffs with a ruling pending following oral arguments last November.

“That process has been playing out. I think it’s logical to allow that to continue. The president’s trade policies have been a great benefit to the country,” Johnson said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The House Rules Committee on Monday approved language that would block any House votes disapproving of Trump’s tariffs through July 31. House Democrats had already planned to force a vote disapproving of Trump’s tariffs this week.

“It is no secret that in private many Republican members of Congress have concerns with President Trump’s tariff policies. Now some are even voicing their concerns in public,” the House Rules Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Jim McGovern, of Massachusetts, said at Monday’s hearing.

“They were just about to have the chance to vote this week to end them. So what’s this all about? The White House is scared. They know that the Republican House finally, after months of blocking itself from doing what the Senate has already done, is poised to vote to end these unpopular, unwise, downright dumb tariffs,” McGovern continued.

The Senate has on multiple occasions voted to strike down tariffs issued by Trump, while the House has blocked votes on tariff-related resolutions. The latest prohibition on tariff votes expired at the end of January.

For Tuesday’s vote, some other Republicans expressed their discomfort with tariffs, but ultimately voted in favor of the rule.

“The Supreme Court is going to be deciding this issue by June. So there is an argument to be made to maintain the status quo until then,” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., told CNBC on Tuesday.

“I believe in free trade. And tariffs are a big mistake. But given that the Supreme Court’s about to weigh in, maybe we ought to just keep our powder dry and see what they say,” said McClintock, who supported the rule.

— CNBC’s Karen Sloan contributed to this report.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/10/gop-tariffs-trump-house-johnson.html