Vice President JD Vance will meet with Senate Republicans during their weekly lunch Tuesday before key tariff votes this week, a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to share the plans told POLITICO.
The Senate is expected to vote this week on terminating three of the national emergencies President Donald Trump declared in order to impose tariffs: one to block the 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods, one to block the 35 percent tariffs on Canadian goods and one to block the 10 to 50 percent tariffs Trump imposed on nearly every country in the world.
Vance is also likely to face questions from his former Senate colleagues about a potential way out of the shutdown, which will be in its 28th day.
The tariff votes mark the latest opportunity for Senate Republicans to push back against the Trump administration’s far-reaching trade policy, after months of building tension in the party over how the duties are hurting farmers and small businesses. Senate Republicans already challenged U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during a private lunch this month, urging him to focus on securing more export markets as China has stopped its purchases of several crops.
The most recent Senate vote on Trump’s tariffs was only narrowly defeated — and likely would have passed if it weren’t for the absences of Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). The Senate already voted against the tariffs on Canadian goods in April. But even if the tariff votes clear the Senate, they’ll get buried in the House, where Republican leaders have worked the legislative rules to prevent a vote until March.
It isn’t the first time Vance, a former senator, has served as a liaison with Congress. He previously took part in shutdown negotiations, including attending a bipartisan meeting and a briefing with Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune when it became clear a shutdown was impending.
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