Senate Challenges Trump's Canada Tariffs After 'Liberation Day' Spectacle

In a bold move, the Senate fired back against President Donald Trump's controversial tariffs on Canadian imports, passing a resolution just hours after his high-profile "Liberation Day" celebration. The resolution, backed by four Republican senators—Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski—joined Democrats in rejecting Trump's emergency declaration that enabled him to impose the tariffs. Their dissent was a sharp jab at Trump's claim that the tariffs were a response to deadly fentanyl flowing across the border.

The measure, introduced by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, narrowly passed with a 51-48 vote, though its survival in the GOP-controlled House remains a long shot. For Democrats, the vote offered a glimmer of hope, a small but symbolic victory in their uphill battle to counter Trump's policies ahead of the midterms.

Rand Paul didn't hold back during his floor speech, invoking American revolutionary James Otis to slam Trump's unilateral taxation. "Taxation without representation is tyranny," Paul declared, emphasizing that the Founding Fathers placed the power to levy taxes firmly in Congress' hands—not in those of a single leader. He went on to describe Trump's emergency declaration as "martial law in disguise," a move he said undermined the very principles of democracy.

Meanwhile, Trump took no prisoners, calling out the four Republican dissenters on Truth Social. He accused them of betraying their party and playing into the hands of "Radical Left Democrats and Drug Cartels." Trump's fiery post claimed the resolution was doomed to fail, labeling it a "Democratic ploy" designed to spotlight GOP fractures. Oh, and he threw in a jab about "Trump Derangement Syndrome" for good measure—because why not?

Hours before the Senate's vote, Trump hosted his "Make America Wealthy Again" event, announcing reciprocal tariffs as part of his economic battle plan. Trump proclaimed, "We cannot pay the deficits of Canada, Mexico, and so many other countries. We take care of countries all over the world, but we have to take care of our people first." It was classic Trump: unapologetically nationalist and loud enough to drown out the critics.

While Democrats are still reeling from their November losses that handed Republicans full control of Congress and the White House, Kaine's resolution tapped into one of the few ways the minority party can force a floor vote. The Senate's move, while unlikely to shift policy, has put a spotlight on Republican infighting and raised questions about the reach of Trump's executive authority.