Senate blocks vote on Corker tariff amendment

WASHINGTON D.C. (WDEF) Senator Corker’s bid to limit the President’s powers to impose tariffs for national security reasons hit a brick wall today.

On the day after the Singapore deal, the Tennessee Senator asked for an up-or-down vote on his amendment to the National Defense Authorizaction Act.

It would require the President to get Congressional Approval for any Tariff he imposes as a national defense issue.

He has used the NDAA to justify his tariff’s on Canada, Mexico and Europe.

But the Republican leadership shut down his vote today.

Senator Corker says he understands why the leadership won’t allow his vote, but it didn’t stop him from lecturing them on their fear of President Trump. (See video above)

See the Senator’s entire statement here.

Today’s events follow a series of technical objections holding up his amendment.

Here is his office’s explanation of the setup for today.

Corker last week was told that his amendment may have a so-called “blue slip” issue should it reach the House of Representatives, a technical issue that requires revenue-related legislation to originate in the House. He was asked by Senate leadership to fix the issue, which is what he sought to do on the Senate floor. He asked for unanimous consent to place the current NDAA text on a House-passed revenue shell. Changing the shell of a bill is routinely done as part of the legislative process, including on the fiscal year 2017 NDAA. He also asked that his amendment be called up and made in order so the body could vote up or down on the merits of the amendment. If his unanimous consent agreement had been adopted, nothing else related to the NDAA or where the Senate currently is in the process would have changed. As the floor manager, Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) objected.