U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, was the lone Democrat to oppose a resolution the House of Representatives passed Wednesday evening to condemn President Donald Trump’s Canada tariffs.
The House voted 219-211 to pass the resolution to disapprove of the national emergency that Trump declared last year to raise tariffs on Canadian imports, with six Republicans supporting it and Golden the only Democrat to vote against it.
The measure now goes to the U.S. Senate, where Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and a few other Republicans have previously opposed Trump’s tariff policies. However, it is unlikely to win enough support to overcome a Trump veto.
The U.S. Supreme Court is also considering whether Trump’s efforts to levy taxes on imports without congressional approval are constitutional. Justices, who return from their winter recess Feb. 20, appeared skeptical of presidential tariff authority during oral arguments in November.
Golden’s party-bucking move was not a surprise. The Democrat from Lewiston, whose 2nd District stretches to the Canadian border, has repeatedly spoken in favor of Trump’s aggressive trade policies, and said last year he felt Trump was gaining leverage on Canada.
“I’ve loudly supported tariffs as a tool to make America more self-sufficient,” Golden, who is not seeking reelection in November for a fifth term, said Thursday morning. “I don’t have plans to take that tool out of the toolbox.”
The president, who claimed Canada was not doing enough to halt the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., ordered 25% tariffs on Canadian imports last February before increasing that rate in August to 35% for all goods not covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
A lower 10% rate applies to Canadian energy imports. That is particularly relevant in Maine given Canada is both a strong cultural neighbor and the state’s largest trading partner. Canada provides around 80% of Maine’s gasoline and heating fuel.
Republican Reps. Kevin Kiley of California, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Jeff Hurd of Colorado and Dan Newhouse of Washington voted Wednesday for the resolution.
“Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!” Trump wrote on Truth Social before the vote. “TARIFFS have given us Great National Security because the mere mention of the word has Countries agreeing to our strongest wishes.”
Hurd, one of the Republican defectors, posted to X after the vote that Congress gave limited authority to presidents in times of emergency, but “those delegations were never intended to serve as a permanent vehicle for sweeping, long-term trade policy.”
“The Constitution does not shift depending on who occupies the White House,” Hurd added.
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