A resolution was approved by the U.S. Senate Wednesday that opposed the proposed tariffs on imports from Canada only hours after President Donald Trump celebrated “Liberation Day.”
According to Fox News, U.S. Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell (Ky.); Susan Collins (R-ME.); and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK.) all sided with their Democrat colleagues and voted to repeal the emergency declaration that would have levied taxes on Canada by 51-48.
On his decision to support the Democrat measure, Paul quoted James Otis, adding that the U.S. Constitution forbids raises taxes.
“Taxation without representation is tyranny,” Paul said. “And yet today, we are here before the Senate because one person in our country wishes to raise taxes. Well, this is contrary to everything our country was founded upon. One person is not allowed to raise tax. The Constitution forbids it.”
Fox News further reported that Paul said the Founding Fathers “so feared the power of taxation that they gave it only to Congress.”
“I stand against the idea of skipping democracy, of skipping the constitutional republic, of rejecting our founding principles, not because I have any animus towards the president,” Paul said. “I do this because I love my country, and I want to see the division of power enabled such that it protects us all from the amalgamation of power into one person such that it can be abused. Another name for emergency rule is martial law.”
“This is a tax, plain and simple,” Paul said. “Taxes should not be enacted by one person. So, I will vote today to end the emergency. I will vote today to try to reclaim the power of taxation, the power of the tariff, to where the Constitution designated it should properly be, and that is in Congress.”
The move, however, has raised the ire of Trump, who called out Paul and the three other Republicans in a post to Truth Social, noting that all four need to “get on the Republican bandwagon for a change.”
“Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change, and fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order to make it more costly to distribute and buy,” Trump said.
The president added all four lawmakers are “playing with the lives of American people” and are playing into the hands of drug cartels and the “radical left.”
“They are playing with the lives of the American people, and right into the hands of the Radical Left Democrats and Drug Cartels,” Trump said. “The Senate Bill is just a ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four, in that it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it. Why are they allowing Fentanyl to pour into our Country unchecked, and without penalty.”
Trump then said Paul, McConnell, Murkowski, and Collins suffer from “Trump derangement syndrome.”
“What is wrong with them, other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly known as TDS?” Trump asked. “Who can want this to happen to our beautiful families, and why? To the people of the Great States of Kentucky, Alaska, and Maine, please contact these Senators and get them to FINALLY adhere to Republican Values and Ideals. They have been extremely difficult to deal with and, unbelievably disloyal to hardworking Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Party itself. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
