President Donald Trump pledged to veto a bipartisan bill aimed at stripping his power to impose tariffs.
“If passed, this bill would dangerously hamper the president’s authority and duty to determine our foreign policy and protect our national security,” read a White House statement sent to congressional offices on Monday, first reported by Axios.
That throws cold water on a push by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to draw up legislation that would limit the president’s authority to impose tariffs without Congressional approval and oversight.
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Seven Republican senators have signed on as co-sponsors to the legislation, named the “Trade Review Act of 2025.” Axios reports the bill is “emerging as a proxy for Republicans to express their concern over Trump’s tariffs.”
Joining Grassley, the Senate’s 91-year-old president pro tempore, as co-sponsors are GOP Sens. Jerry Moran, Lisa Murkowski, Mitch McConnell, Thomas Tillis, Todd Young, and Susan Collins. The bill has not yet gone to a vote.
Republicans control 53 seats in the Senate and hold a similarly tight majority in the House of Representatives. Congress can override a presidential veto by passing a bill by a two-thirds vote in both chambers, but such a measure is likely still far out.
If passed into law as is, the bill would require the president to notify Congress 48 hours before any new tariffs are implemented, as well as provide an explanation for why they are needed. If that reason is determined to not by satisfactory to the majority of the Senate, the body could put a stop to them.
The bill would also require that all tariffs sunset after 60 days unless Congress passes a joint resolution to approve an extension.
Congress has historically imposed tariffs. However, Trump has been able to impose tariffs without congressional approval by declaring a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which allows the White House to impose tariffs during emergencies.
Trump campaigned on tariffs and touted “Liberation Day,” which he set for April 2, regularly in his first two months in office. The scope of the tariffs announced last week still left many economists stunned.
Trump has justified his tariffs—and the “short-term pain” they have occasioned—by claiming they will ultimately make the U.S. a manufacturing powerhouse once again. Economic experts are not so convinced.
“A lot of companies, then, are not sure really how to redesign the supply chain when the trade policy is unclear,” Christopher Tang, a professor at the UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, told NBC News. “So because these are many, many billions of dollars in investments, they cannot change on a lurch.”
The White House’s Monday statement comes after a rough morning for U.S. markets, which have suffered one of their worst three-day stretches since the infamous “Black Monday” market crash in 1987, reported Bloomberg. The S&P 500 had declined nearly 14 percent since the White House’s tariffs announcement and market opening on Monday, CBS News reported.
“Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” Trump wrote on Truth Social amid Monday’s market chaos.
The White House declined to comment about the veto threat when reached by email. Cantwell’s office did not respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment. A spokesperson for Grassley referred the Beast to a remark he made to reporters in the Capitol on Monday.
“Doesn’t surprise me at all,” Grassley said of Trump’s threat. “If a president’s got that authority, I think a president would be very jealous about giving any of it up.”
