How Mike Johnson Could Shut Down Trump’s Tariffs

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Beyond Donald Trump, there’s one individual who has the potential to put a stop to the ongoing economic turmoil: House Speaker Mike Johnson. He would greatly appreciate it if you could refrain from mentioning his name in this context.

As the President stirs up a global crisis not seen in decades, Speaker Johnson is working hard to shield his fellow House Republicans from the chaos that Trump has unleashed. The spectacle created by Trump threatens to leave lasting scars on GOP lawmakers and could be detrimental to retirees. Even some of Trump’s allies, like Senators Rand Paul and Chuck Grassley, are raising concerns about the fallout from these developments.

Congressman Don Bacon from Omaha is pushing a bill in the House aimed at countering Trump’s unilateral emergency tariffs. Although his proposal currently lacks the necessary backing from his GOP colleagues, frustration is quietly mounting among lawmakers. As of now, most are hesitant to oppose the President. A similar initiative in the Senate has attracted bipartisan support and could gain more traction with Republicans if they felt confident it wouldn’t be relegated to obscurity by Johnson.

Should Johnson approve a bill that reasserts Congress’s authority over tariffs, the dynamics on Capitol Hill would shift rapidly. Both chambers would likely find majorities for such legislation, potentially large enough to override Trump’s promised veto. However, taking such a decisive step could risk Johnson’s position, considering he only recently assumed the Speakership with Trump’s backing.

Trump, for his part, appears unfazed by the unfolding political crisis.

“We’re going to secure fair and beneficial deals with everyone. If they don’t meet us halfway, they will be barred from participating in the U.S.,” he stated on Monday.

The chaos Trump is guiding the economy toward is, without a doubt, entirely avoidable. If House members were willing to act according to their principles, this situation could be resolved swiftly. However, they are not.

Access to international markets is vital for many economies in red districts—consider the producers of tractors, soybeans, and medical devices. Making these products less competitive as exports is a damaging first step in a sequence that now also includes rising prices for imports that were previously more affordable from China, Singapore, and India.

The repercussions haven’t yet reached consumers at the checkout, but investors are sensing trouble ahead and responding negatively. During a recent Oval Office meeting, Trump dismissed market players as foolish cowards who didn’t share his confidence that a prosperous era for America is just around the corner, provided they remain patient. “Tariffs will make this country incredibly wealthy,” he declared as the Israeli Prime Minister sat quietly nearby.

While the White House maintains that everything is under control and even floated the idea of ramping up tariffs on China to 130%, Wall Street is sliding into a state of open defiance against an administration that once appeared to be a partner. Even a proposal from the European Union to eliminate tariffs on some U.S. goods was dismissed by Trump, who said, “The E.U. has been tough on us over the years.”

The rapidly accumulating costs threaten to inflate prices on nearly every item in American households. Some Trump officials argue that this is merely the start of negotiations, whereas the President insists that the new tariff strategy is both irreversible and a justified response.

Meanwhile, the House seems to be in a passive state, observing the tariff crisis escalate while behaving as if they have no options available.

The political implications are entirely foreseeable and troubling. The House’s electoral map has already shown signs of fragility. The Senate’s landscape is only slightly more favorable. Republican positions in state races are tenuous. If you’re missing the trend, there are numerous F-based terms to describe the future of Republican power, and the situation is not improving as the markets struggle.

The developments on Monday were met with grim faces around the capital. Goldman Sachs has raised the likelihood of a recession to 45% in a note to its clients. Lobbyists are alerting lawmakers to issues in their districts regarding everything from seed oil to auto parts, and from airplanes to wheat thrashers. If all politics are local, then all tariffs are pitfalls.

For now, Johnson continues to back whatever Trump decides. However, if the Speaker were to show any sign of wavering, there’s a strong possibility his colleagues would temporarily set aside their MAGA hats to reverse Trump’s tariffs. Yet any deviation from Trump’s favored path could lead to House Republicans initiating a no-confidence vote against Johnson, who has thus far managed to maintain his grip on a notoriously unruly caucus.

This dynamic has fostered a sense of indifference among some Republicans on Capitol Hill, particularly among senior aides.

“Everything is a mess. That was true last week, it’s true this week, and it will be true next week. Everyone needs to take a breath,” a senior aide in House Republican Leadership texted me early Monday. “You can panic all you want, but President Trump remains the party leader. Speaker Johnson holds the gavel. Leader [John] Thune is in charge of the Senate. And the Supreme Court is on our side. As the kids say: STFU.”

This dual narrative of Rome burning versus a steady hand is currently shaping the conservative movement in Congress. While no one is particularly fond of Trump’s dominance over the party, it has become a necessary alliance since 2015. However, this relationship is being tested as communication lines on Capitol Hill are flooded with concerns from constituents about their retirement savings and the future of local businesses.

This brings us back to Johnson, an unintentional Speaker whose majority is precarious, and whose loyalty to Trump is at best tenuous. On Monday, his fellow members were feeling the sting of a Trump maneuver that has cost the economy trillions in under a week. The decline in the markets since Trump took office has been among the steepest in recent memory, and no one can dismiss it as a mere blip.