Republicans going public with their growing worries about Trump's tariffs
Washington (AP): Manufacturers struggling to make long-term plans. Farmers facing retaliation from Chinese buyers. US households burdened with higher prices.
Republican senators are confronting the Trump administration with those worries and many more as they fret about the economic impact of the president's sweeping tariff strategy that went into effect Wednesday.
In a Senate hearing and interviews with reporters this week, Republican skepticism of President Donald Trump's policies ran unusually high. While GOP lawmakers made sure to direct their concern at Trump's aides and advisers — particularly US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who appeared before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday — it still amounted to a rare Republican break from a president they have otherwise championed.
Lawmakers had reason to worry: the stock market has been in a volatile tumble for days and economists are warning that the plans could lead to a recession.
"Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis told Greer as he pressed for an answer on which Trump aide to hold accountable if there is an economic downturn.
Tillis' frustration was aimed at the across-the-board tariff strategy that could potentially hamstring U.S. manufacturers who are currently dependent on materials like aluminum and steel from China. His home state of North Carolina, where he is up for reelection next year, has attracted thousands of foreign firms looking to invest in the state's manufacturing industries.
Ever wary of crossing Trump, Republicans engaged in a delicate two-step of criticizing the rollout of the tariffs then shifting to praise for the president's economic vision. In the afternoon, Tillis in a Senate floor speech said that the “president is right in challenging other nations who have for decades abused their relationship with the United States," yet went on to question who in the White House was thinking through the long-term economic effects of the sweeping tariffs.
Tillis even allowed that Trump's trade strategy could still turn out to be effective, but said there is a short window to show that it is worth the higher prices and layoffs that will burden workers.
For his part, Greer emphasised to the committee that the US was engaged in negotiations with other countries but that “the trade deficit has been decades in the making, and it's not going to be solved overnight.”
Republican leaders in Congress, as well as a sizeable chunk of lawmakers, have emphasized that Trump needs time to implement his strategy. They've mostly rejected the idea of putting a check on Trump's tariff power, but it is clear that anxiety is growing among rank-and-file Republicans about what's ahead.
Sen James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said there is a company in his state that had spent “millions of dollars" moving its parts production from China to Vietnam. But now that Vietnam is facing steep tariffs, the business is unable to move forward with negotiating prices with retailers.
Lankford pressed Greer for a timeline for negotiations, but the trade representative responded, “We don't have any particular timeline. The outcome is more important than setting something artificially for us.”
Trade agreements between countries typically take months or even years to work out and often require the parties to navigate through a host of legal, economic and business issues. Still, Republicans said they were encouraged by the indications that Trump is entering into negotiations with other nations.
Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, said at the committee hearing that he was “very encouraged” by news of trade negotiations and attributed a momentary upward tick in the stock market to “hope that these tariffs are a means and not solely an end.”
He told Greer, "Who pays these high tariffs? It will be the consumer. I'm worried about the inflationary effect. I'm worried if there is a trade war that we're going to have markets shutting down for American farmers, ranchers and manufacturers.”
Other GOP lawmakers contended that the pain was worth bearing. Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said the president is on the right track.
“It's pain, but it's going to be,” he said. “The president will make the right call. He's doing the right thing.”
Still, traditional Republicans were looking for ways to push back on Trump's tariff plan.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican, has introduced a bipartisan bill to give Congress the power to review and approve of new tariffs, and Republican members in the House were also working to gain support for a similar bill. Such legislation would allow Congress to claw back some of its constitutional power over tariff policy, which has been almost completely handed over to the president in recent decades through legislation.
But the White House has already indicated that Trump would veto the bill, and both Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have said they are not interested in bringing it up for a vote.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican closely aligned with Trump, said on social media that the bill was a bad idea because “Congress moves at the pace of a tortoise running a race.”
“The reason why Congress gave this authority to the president to begin with is because the ability to pivot,” he added.
But the president's unclear messaging has also left lawmakers only guessing as they try to decipher which advisers and aides hold sway in the White House.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said that as he's received calls from the business community in his state, he's had no answers for them besides telling them the prospects for the economy are uncertain. The communication from the president's aides has often been conflicting, Kennedy said even as he voiced support for Trump's long-term goals.
Kennedy told reporters, “I don't think there's any way to double or triple your tariffs on the world when you're the wealthiest country in all of human history without being somewhat shambolic."
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Shashi Tharoor calls for regulation and taxation instead of banning online gaming
New Delhi(PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday criticised the government’s move to ban online money gaming, warning that such a step would only push the industry underground and strengthen criminal networks.
He also said he had not studied the three Constitution amendment bills seeking to provide a framework for the removal of prime ministers, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers detained on serious criminal charges in any detail.
“On the face of it, it is difficult to say it has any problem, but obviously if anyone does something wrong they should not be a minister anyway. I don’t know if there is any other motive,” he remarked.
Discussing the bill seeking to prohibit and regulate online gaming introduced in the Lok Sabha, he said, "I had written a very long article on the argument that by banning online gaming we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could be a useful source of revenue for the government if we legalise it, regulate it and tax it."
He added that many countries have studied the issue in detail and concluded that regulation and taxation can generate funds for social causes, while bans merely enrich “criminal mafias”.
In a post on X, Tharoor recalled that he had “gone on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia”.
“It’s a pity that the government seems to have derived no lessons from the experience of other countries that have considered this issue,” he wrote.
He added that the bill should at least have been referred to a parliamentary committee “to consider all the pros and cons before rushing it into law”.
The proposed bill prohibits online money gaming and its advertisements, prescribing imprisonment or fines, or both, for violators. It differentiates such games from eSports and online social games, while calling for their promotion.
1/2 I went on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia. https://t.co/KYi2aTxDQQ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 20, 2025
