Chuck Schumer called Trump's tariffs "a sledgehammer to the American economy."
Then his caucus voted to hand Trump new tariff authority – and caught a flight home for August recess.
But Donald Trump is now hitting Canada with 50% tariffs – and Democrats are learning you don't give a man matches and then complain he started a fire.
The Most Expensive Flip in Senate History
The record on Senate Democrats and tariffs is not complicated.
April 2025 – Schumer forced a vote to repeal Trump's Canada tariffs, calling them "a tax increase on American families, plain and simple."
October 2025 – Senate Democrats voted again to wipe out Trump's Canada tariffs, with Schumer vowing "the madness must stop."
February 2026 – Both chambers voted to repeal Trump's Canada tariffs, and Schumer called it proof that Congress had rejected Trump's "phony 'emergency'" and his "fabricated trade war."
Then the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act came to the floor.
The bill crushed Putin's war machine with the toughest sanctions package in years.
It also handed Trump authority to slap tariffs of up to 100% on the five countries buying the most Russian energy.
The Senate passed it 86 to 11.
Only nine Democrats voted no.
The same caucus that voted four times to repeal Trump's tariff authority just voted to give him more of it.
Trump Read the Room. Democrats Didn't.
Canada is now facing 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of goods – hockey sticks, wine, cement, electronics, building materials.
Trump announced that auto tariffs on Canada will jump to 50% on January 1, 2027 – double the current rate – after trade negotiations collapsed last week.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match every dollar "dollar for dollar."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who co-authored the Russia bill, told Fox News Digital he isn't worried.
If Trump strays outside the legal limits, Blumenthal said, "he will be restrained by the courts, just as when he broke the law on tariffs previously."
That's the plan.
The courts.
The same courts that already blocked Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs – and watched him immediately pivot to new legal authority and keep going.
Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia was so concerned about the tariff provisions that he held up the entire bill demanding written guarantees from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that the authority would apply only to the top five Russian energy buyers.
He got his letter.
The Canada tariffs went to 50% anyway.
Wyden Told Them Exactly What Would Happen
Sen. Ron Wyden voted no, and from the Senate floor he delivered a prediction that aged about three weeks.
"I believe senators will come to deeply regret voting to give Donald Trump this tariff authority," Wyden said.
Wyden and Rand Paul introduced an amendment to strip the tariff provisions entirely.
The Senate voted them down.
The Graham Act technically limits Trump's new powers to the top five Russian energy buyers.
Canada isn't on that list.
The 50% tariffs hitting Canada run on separate legal authority the Graham Act doesn't touch.
What the vote did was something worse than cause those tariffs – it handed Trump a political win on the very premise Democrats had spent two years trying to destroy.
They had built a legal and political case that presidential tariff authority was unconstitutional, dangerous, and catastrophic for American families.
Then they voted to expand it.
For two years, Schumer told the country that Trump's tariffs were raising costs on everything from groceries to energy bills – all because Trump chose chaos over common sense.
Then Schumer's caucus handed Trump new tariff powers and went home.
Trump walked away from that vote with Democratic validation for the concept itself.
He's using it.
Sources:
- Alex Miller, "Democrats hand Trump one power they spent years fighting," Fox News, August 27, 2026.
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "US Senate Passes Russia Sanctions Bill Targeting Moscow's Energy Revenues," August 7, 2026.
- The Dispatch, "Senate passes sweeping Russia sanctions bill negotiated by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham," August 2026.
- CNBC, "Trump says U.S. will hike Canada auto tariffs to 50% as trade war escalates," August 24, 2026.
- NBC News, "Canadian prime minister suspends trade talks with U.S., setting new 50% tariffs in motion," August 22, 2026.
- Senator Tim Kaine press release, "Kaine, Klobuchar, Warner, Schumer & Wyden Praise House Passage of Legislation to Repeal Trump's Tariffs on Canada," February 11, 2026.
