Who needs enemies with stalwart friends like this?

As stock markets tumble in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, Republicans in Congress were watching with unease and talking of clawing back their power to levy tariffs — but almost none seemed ready to turn their words into action.

The Republican president is upending longstanding GOP principles like support for free trade, yet despite clear misgivings and a Constitutional mandate to decide tariffs, most lawmakers were not ready to cross Trump. Instead, they were focusing all their attention on advancing the president’s " big, beautiful bill ” of tax breaks and spending cuts, even as tariffs — in essence, import taxes — threatened to raise consumer prices across the board and push the global economy into a recession.

As the fallout from Trump’s announcement reverberated around global markets, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has made it clear he is no fan of tariffs, told reporters that he would give Trump “the benefit of the doubt” in hopes that the announcement was just a scare tactic to prod foreign leaders into negotiating better trade deals with the U.S.

Three whole days and the usual suspects, who can't get off their collectives asterisks to do anything remotely useful besides cry into hankies and reach across the aisles to help Democrats blow their noses, are suddenly and miraculously jet-propelled into action to...*checks notes*...'reassert' Congressional authority over tariffs.

In other words, shut Trump down.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican lawmaker from the farm-heavy state of Iowa, is spearheading new legislation that would reassert Congress’ authority over tariffs amid President Donald Trump’s trade war escalation.

The measure, jointly introduced Thursday with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), would limit the president’s power to impose tariffs. It would require the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of such an imposition and for Congress to explicitly approve any new tariffs within 60 days. The bill also would allow Congress to end any tariff at any time.

It’s highly unlikely this proposal will ever become law. Still, support from Grassley — who chairs the Judiciary Committee, sits on the Finance Committee and is third in line for the presidency as the Senate’s president pro tempore — sends a strong signal about the GOP’s growing unease with Trump’s actions and the party’s willingness to say something about it.

It's all the squish virtue-signaling establishment critter names you'd expect and precisely the reason why Republicans can't ever have nice things.

HOLY SMOKES - those names are shockers. https://t.co/iZKmHxxyXH pic.twitter.com/iBRYRsQz7C

— tree hugging s*ster 🎃 (@WelbornBeege) April 7, 2025

...Grassley 

Moran 

Murkowski 

McConnell 

Tillis 

Young 

Collins

Trump says if such an abomination ever makes it to his desk, he's going to veto it, but it shouldn't be happening to begin with.

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent is shaking his head at the 'impatience' he sees in the markets, and these senators doing the preemptive polka are making things worse. For crying out loud, it's been three whole days, and two of them are on a weekend.

Get a frickin' grip.

Bessent has been surprised by the “impatience” in the stock market since the tariff announcement, he told Fox News today. He sees the sweeping new import duties as the starting point for a negotiation which could last several months.

“Maybe almost 70” countries have reached out to the White House about negotiating tariffs, Bessent told Fox, including Japan, whose Prime Minister Ishiba spoke to Trump today.

🚨 #BREAKING: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just said that up to 70 COUNTRIES have now contacted Trump to make a deal on tariffs.

The dominoes are starting to fall.

"There are 50, 60, maybe almost 70 countries now - who have approached us. It's gonna be a busy April, May,… pic.twitter.com/r5e6GYv3Lg

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 7, 2025

Three days.

For years, the media, Democrats, & neocons said Trump only cared about himself and Wall Street. Trump's tariffs prove they were projecting, says @bungarsargon . Now, elites are panicking because "Trump is waging class warfare on Wall Street for the sake of the working class." pic.twitter.com/ineptzEIER

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) April 7, 2025

Grassley's such a big 'farm' advocate. Maybe he should be talking to beef ranchers, too, before he tries to cut the knees out from under the president.

Illinois cattle rancher says that President Trump's tariffs are a gamechanger for the beef industry: "We're happy that the President finally singled us out and said that we do need to increase our beef sales to other countries... It will be a great time for our industry." pic.twitter.com/lxtKAq2rxI

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 7, 2025

Maybe some of those squish senators should get out of their club once in a while.

Connecticut business leaders: "We've actually been inundated with our customers... looking to buy wire from us once again, now that the tariffs have gone into effect."pic.twitter.com/A9qGm0zA7o

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) April 7, 2025

And as Americans learn what the multinationals have been doing with Democrats' full blessing? Yes, the party that insists the middle-class 'pay their fair share,' but boy, their favored donors get off easy.

Now, this is VERY interesting. https://t.co/bBGGdHSjW8 pic.twitter.com/zZFWNVCT5n

— Jeffrey A Tucker (@jeffreyatucker) April 7, 2025

It's been three days, and the market even bounced back up a good way for a bit today. 

Jim Cramer is warning of a "Black Monday" style market crash on Monday.

2 minutes ago the DJIA was up $146.04.

Of course the media will continue pounding viewers and readers with domesday predictions, so the markets will be all over the board. They are now pushing the narrative… pic.twitter.com/zuz7LuaWND

— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) April 7, 2025

Sorry to disappoint the Democrats and progressives and RINOs today.

You got that right.

— Gary Weiss (@gary_weiss) April 7, 2025

Yeah, it's a ride, and, yeah, it hurts.

So the official Bear Market is based on the drop from the closing high.
That means we'd have to close under 4,915.32 for the official Bear.
Right now the Bull is on life support, but he's not dead. https://t.co/mUYraxboVw pic.twitter.com/MoKNQk1CG3

— Frog Capital (@FrogNews) April 7, 2025

But dammit. All I can think is that they couldn't even give him a week.

These senators are panicked already.

They gave Biden trillions but can't give Trump a week.

It amazes me.

LAGNIAPPE: As lagniappe is the little something extra, a delectable surprise - and I'm going to bed - I thought I'd drop this here for posterity. 

I just checked the CNBC website as a giggleto see what the futures were doing, and HOLY CRAP.

Was Jim Cramer ever right in his own way and only off by a day.

They look fantastic.

The Dow is at +749, the S&P at +85, and the NASDAQ at +286. Of course, they're constantly changing, but HOLY CRAP/

If we open in positive territory and then manage to stay close all day? Whatever the number, I hope the scorching burn runs these feckless, spineless cave creatures back under a rock for months.

Three days and they pull their RINOe traitor crap.

They haven't seen anything yet.

LFG!