The cult abdicates to its leader
By 
No checks, no balances:
Republican leaders in the House are moving to short-circuit an attempt to force a vote on President Donald Trump’s new global tariffs, repeating a maneuver they used earlier this year to block attempts to overturn narrower levies targeting Canada.
A measure approved on a party-line vote by the Rules Committee Wednesday morning would allow Speaker Mike Johnson to bottle up a Democratic resolution to cancel the national emergency Trump declared to underpin the sweeping new tariffs. Under the National Emergencies Act, disapproval measures can be fast-tracked for a floor vote after as few as 15 days.
The Rules Committee move upends that timeline, giving GOP leaders the ability to keep it off the floor until at least September. The measure is set for a floor vote Wednesday afternoon.
Democrats bristled at the move and attempted to strip it out in the Rules panel Wednesday. Their amendment failed on a party-line vote.
“We only need four Republicans, only four Republicans to vote with Democrats to review the tariffs and stop this madness,” said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.). “Do you support tariffs that are throwing our economy into recession? Do you support tariffs that are hurting our families? … Then get up on the floor and debate that. But don’t prevent us from having that debate.”
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) also condemned the move during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing about the tariffs: “Congress should have a role here. It’s terrible that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren’t willing to have a vote, too.”
Congress could stop this ad hoc tariff whipsaw anytime it wants by clearly withdrawing what it has delegated (or, in this case, didn’t really delegate unless you think the tariffs serve some kind of security purpose against France, various penguins, etc.) Speaking of which it’s a real shame that MAJOR QUESTIONS doctrine was presumably suspended on January 20, 2025.