Vulnerable House Republicans go silent on Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

One year ago this week, President Donald Trump declared April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ and imposed sweeping tariffs on several countries. House Republicans cheered on that effort but now, don’t want to talk about it.

American Journal News reached out to 27 of the most vulnerable GOP congresspeople facing reelection this year to ask whether they still support Trump’s tariff policy. None had provided responses at the time of publication.

There’s good reason for this: Republicans promised the tariffs would lower costs, but according to a Tax Foundation analysis, the tariffs actually drove up retail prices last year by 7%. Some of the hardest-hit products include cars, clothes, toys, and furniture.

The tariffs have faced multiple legal challenges. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the legal authority Trump used to impose the tariffs was unlawful, but left the door open for him to try reinstating the tariffs through other means.

Trump has also lifted some tariffs and imposed new ones, all of which has created a confusing patchwork that businesses and consumers are now struggling to navigate.

“An international trade policy based on bullying and BS isn’t helping anyone,” said Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat running for Congress in New Mexico’s 2nd District. “We can’t afford an ego-driven strategy with no endgame; it drives up costs and hurts national security.”

Three of the Republican lawmakers we reached out to are in Vasquez’s neighboring state of Arizona: Reps. Eli Crane, Juan Ciscomani, and David Schweikert, who is now running for governor. We also reached out to Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado.

Other swing-state lawmakers who did not provide a response are Michigan Reps. Bill Huizenga and Tom Barrett; Pennsylvania Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry; and Wisconsin Reps. Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden.

Mackenzie has expressed openness to rolling back the tariffs but voted against a bipartisan resolution in February to lift tariffs imposed on Canada. Huizenga, Barrett, Perry, and Steil all celebrated the Liberation Day tariffs when they were introduced.

“Is there going to be some adjustments? Absolutely,” Huizenga told reporters in April 2025. “Is it going to be easy? Not necessarily. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely it is.”

Bresnahan, meanwhile, has come under fire for making several stock trades immediately before and after Trump imposed the tariffs. Bresnahan pledged in his 2024 campaign that he would not personally trade any stocks if elected.

Many economists argue that Trump’s tariffs exacerbated an already dire affordability crisis created by stubborn inflation and corporate greed. That crisis has gotten worse since the U.S. invaded Iran last month, causing gas prices to surge above $4 a gallon for the first time in three years.

“This anniversary is a reminder to the American people who’s responsible for making their lives harder,” Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene told Semafor.

Other lawmakers who did not provide a response are California Reps. David Valadao, Young Kim, and Ken Calvert; Florida Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Maria Elvira Salazar; Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks; Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr; Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner; New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr.; New York Rep. Mike Lawler; Ohio Reps. Max Miller and Mike Carey; Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles; Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz; and Virginia Reps. Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans.