Liz Warren was describing how Democrats plan to box in Republicans on the tariffs by using a vote on the emergency authority for Trump’s tariffs — which, as she points out, is supposed to be with Congress.
“Well, the power he’s using is an emergency authority that says specifically Congress, of course, can say, hey, there’s no emergency. We’re not in an emergency with Belgium. We’re not in an emergency with South Korea. Congress can then just roll that back.
“So I’ve introduced the bill along with Senator Wyden, and there will be a vote. This is one of those, you know, a privileged motion. There will be a vote in the next couple of weeks where every Democrat is ready to roll that authority back from Donald Trump. The question is, can we get some Republicans?
“Every Republican will be required to go on the record and to say quite publicly, while things are crashing about them, either they are there only to bow down to Donald Trump, or they are there to stand up for the people who elected them to stand up for our country. And you’ve just got to force them into those votes.
“What do you think the count is?” Mika Brzezinski asked.
“You got six Republicans, maybe seven. So I think the count is in our favor for a majority. But here’s the importance of it. I think it’s going to be the crack in the wall. As soon as they start to move, and as soon as you got more than one moving, seven after a little bit starts to look like 17. People don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of history,” she said.
“Republicans and Democrats in the elevator down on the floor of the Senate, back in the cloakroom, they say to each other, ‘We got a little problem here.’ Now, no one wants to meet your eye, Claire, right? Well, nobody from the Republicans, it’s heads down. And when you say ‘What’s happening in the market?’, it’s just heads down, that’s so awkward.
“They know. But the point is, they do know, and they understand. Look, I have no sympathy. Here they are in the box, they want to be a Republican. That is the damn box you put yourself in. But you’re going to have to make a decision. Is it bow down to Trump? Or is it stand up for the American people?”
Claire McCaskill told Warren that Democrats need to step up their game.
“There is a pattern here,” Warren said.
“I know it feels like a dust storm, but watch what’s happening back in Congress. They’re moving forward every step. Taking every step to do what? To be able to do giant tax giveaways for billionaires and pay for it on the backs of cutting Social Security, cutting our promises to our veterans, cutting health care for little babies, taking away support for our public schools, for our kids with special needs.
“They think they can get away with that. Our job is to get it out. Here’s our secret plan. What we’ll tell everyone right now is, tell the truth. Because the American people, this is so damned unpopular, I get it, it’s not as good theater, but it is unpopular. Why is Chuck Grassley, why is Marjorie Taylor Greene having trouble facing people? Why is the Republican leadership in Congress saying, don’t go out and do town halls?
“Because what you’re doing is so miserably unpopular that people will scream at you and they’ll be video of you running away.”
