Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE) is predicting that Congress will vote down President Trump’s recently announced 10% global tariff. This comes after Bacon celebrated a Supreme Court decision that struck down President Trump’s previous emergency tariffs, which he sees as a win for the legislative branch.
According to Mediaite, Bacon has been pushing legislation to give tariff power back to Congress. He took to X to write that “the Constitution’s checks and balances still work” and that “Article One gives tariff authority to Congress.” He called the Supreme Court’s ruling “common-sense and straightforward,” and stressed that Congress needs to defend its own authorities rather than always relying on the Supreme Court.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, President Trump announced he intends to maintain his tariffs and raise them globally by 10%, citing a different statute. Bacon appeared on CNN to counter this, stating that “any tariff has to be approved by Congress.” He pointed out that the Supreme Court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, is now the law, not the dissenting views President Trump has been quoting.
Congress looks set to block Trump’s 10% global tariff, with even Republicans turning against it
CNN’s Brianna Keilar pressed Bacon on President Trump’s claim that he doesn’t need Congress, saying the tariff is “already been approved” under Section 122, a section that expires in 150 days unless Congress extends it.
Bacon was firm, saying he had read Justice Gorsuch’s majority opinion, which is the current law. He believes that if President Trump pushes ahead with the 10% global tariff, “it will be brought up for a vote in Congress and it will be defeated.”
Bacon is confident that even without a veto-proof majority, there will still be enough votes to block the 10% global tariff. He believes President Trump is making a mistake by relying on dissenting opinions that are not law. This tariff dispute is just one of several controversies surrounding Trump’s recent public appearances, which have drawn widespread attention.
Bacon also argued that the 10% global tariff undermines President Trump’s earlier defense of tariffs as being “reciprocal.” He admits that many, including himself, never really accepted that argument, and believes President Trump has supported tariffs since the 1980s.
He reminded fellow Republicans of their historical stance, noting that conservatives have opposed tariffs since World War II. Bacon drew a direct historical comparison, stating that the last Republican president to support tariffs was Herbert Hoover, and that move made the Great Depression worse.
Meanwhile, Trump has faced other distractions, including a disruption at the Kennedy Center Trump ice rink that forced a performance to be cancelled. For Bacon, the position is clear: tariffs are bad economics and bad politics, and that is a stance he is not changing.
Published: Feb 21, 2026 02:15 pm