A Democratic-led Senate attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump's sweeping 10% tariffs collapsed Wednesday after a 49-49 deadlock, with Vice President JD Vance casting a rare tiebreaking vote to kill the resolution. The outcome delivered a political victory to Senate Republican leaders who lobbied intensely to protect Trump's trade agenda - and capitalized on the absence of Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Whitehouse, who has sharply criticized Trump's use of tariffs under emergency powers, missed the vote while returning from the "Our Ocean" summit in South Korea. His absence drew backlash from Democrats and outside commentators, some of whom accused him of failing to prioritize the high-stakes vote. "This is what it looks like to be completely unserious about your job," said Democratic congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti.
Three Republican senators - Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul of Kentucky - broke ranks to support the resolution, which would have revoked the emergency order Trump used to impose the tariffs. GOP support, however, fell short in the evenly split Senate. Senate Majority Whip John Thune downplayed the significance of the vote, saying, "I think these are more symbolic votes that Democrats are trying to engineer."
Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, a longtime tariff opponent, was also absent due to illness. A spokesperson said McConnell would have voted in favor of the resolution. "The Senator has been consistent in opposing tariffs and that a trade war is not in the best interest of American households and businesses," the spokesperson stated. "He believes that tariffs are a tax increase on everybody."
Senate Democrats employed a rarely used tactic under the National Emergencies Act to force the vote, targeting Trump's invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify tariffs on both adversaries and allies. The tactic was spearheaded by Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), and marked one of the few legislative tools available to confront Trump's trade policy head-on.
Whitehouse's absence proved decisive. "Senator Whitehouse is on his way back from representing the United States at the Our Ocean summit, where he was the sole American official," said his spokesperson Meaghan McCabe. She added, "The senator expressed America's continued support for the Blue Economy, climate solutions, fisheries, and maritime security, even as the Trump administration cedes leadership on the oceans to the rest of the world."
Criticism mounted on social media and within party ranks. Podcast host Josh Barro, a registered Democrat, wrote, "I hope Sheldon Whitehouse enjoyed the conference in f*****g Korea that he's been attending while the Senate is in session and voting." Punchbowl News reported "consternation" among Democratic senators that leadership scheduled the vote knowing Whitehouse would be absent.
The Senate had previously passed a resolution 51-48 on April 2 to end Trump's tariffs on Canadian imports. That measure, too, was ultimately blocked in the GOP-controlled House via a rule preventing such resolutions from advancing until the end of September.
Despite the setback, Sen. Paul suggested the tariff debate could resurface if the economy weakens further. "It's still a debate worth having, because... if it's worse again in the second quarter, people would start asking, 'Is it good policy, or is it a bad policy?'" Paul said.
