Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., railed against Republican leaders Tuesday for preventing a vote on his amendment to give Congress a chance to reject the president’s national security-related tariffs.
When GOP leaders prevented the vote, Corker took to the Senate floor to mock Senate Republicans for being afraid of upsetting President Trump, and not wanting to “poke the bear” by letting his amendment come to the floor.
“I know there’s not going to be a vote on this amendment. I know it,” Corker said.
“I heard the senior senator from Texas saying the other day, ‘Well gosh, we might upset the president. We might upset the president of the United States before the midterms!'” Corker said, referring to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “‘So, gosh, we can’t vote on the Corker amendment because we’re taking, rightly so, the responsibilities that we have to deal with tariffs and revenues. We can’t do that because we’d be upsetting the president.'”
“I can’t believe it!” Corker said as his voice went up an octave. He said he believes that at least 95 percent of Senate Republicans support his amendment “intellectually.”
“A lot of them would vote for it if it came to a vote. But no, no, no, gosh, ‘We might poke the bear’ is the language I’ve been hearing in the hallways. We might poke the bear! The president might get upset with us as United States senators if we vote on the Corker amendment, so we’re going to do everything we can to block it!” Corker said. “The United States Senate right now … is becoming a body where, ‘Well we’ll do what we can do, but my gosh, if the president gets upset with us, then we might not be in the majority! So lets not do anything that might upset the president.'”
Corker has been an outspoken critic of the president’s decision to hit Canada, Mexico, and the European Union with tariffs on steel and aluminum products and has pushed this amendment, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said would not get a standalone vote on the Senate floor.
The amendment would give Congress the authority to approve or vote down tariffs enacted by the president through Section 232, which gives the president the ability to impose tariffs for national security purposes. Many lawmakers have questioned the president’s decision to do this to the group of U.S. allies, who they say do not pose a national security risk as many are tied through alliances.
[Senate GOP plots vote to rein in Trump’s tariffs]
Corker has moved forward with the amendment despite cajoling from Trump and McConnell for him to drop this push.
The bipartisan measure has 14 co-sponsors, including Corker, the outgoing GOP senator.
