One of the biggest Congressional champions of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy hails from the Democratic Party.
Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who has consistently won reelection in a district Trump carried by nine percentage points in 2024, is emerging as one of the most ardent defenders of the administration’s recent tariffs. While some Congressional Republicans are seeking to rein in the president’s tariff authority, Golden is urging Trump to not listen to detractors urging him to stop implementing tariffs on countries around the world.
“My biggest worry is that they’re [the Trump administration] going to do this and lose faith and political will and back away,” Golden told Axios Tuesday.
Golden’s apparent support for the president’s baseline and reciprocal tariffs comes as some Congressional Republicans are moving to undercut the president’s authority to impose unilateral tariffs.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa co-introduced a bill to require Congressional approval of the president’s unilateral tariffs Wednesday. The bill currently has at least six other GOP cosponsors, including Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Trump has pledged to veto the bill and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has suggested he would not call the bill up for a floor vote.
Republican Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Jeff Hurd of Colorado have introduced similar legislation in the House with two Democratic lawmakers, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Gregory Meeks of New York. The bill faces steep obstacles to receiving a vote on the floor given Trump’s veto threat.
Some GOP lawmakers, fearful of how the tariffs may impact the Republican Party’s prospects in the 2026 midterms, are also recommending that Trump should use the tariffs as a negotiation tool to persuade other countries to lower their own duties on American imports and then recommit to free trade.
“Tariffs are a tax on consumers, and I’m not a fan of jacking up taxes on American consumers, so my hope is these tariffs are short-lived, and they serve as leverage to lower tariffs across the globe,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told Fox News’ Larry Kudlow on Wednesday.
Cruz also said on his “Verdict” podcast Sunday that long-term reciprocal tariffs would be a “terrible outcome” for the United States, citing the potential for increased inflation or the risk of a recession.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has also been a fierce critic of Trump’s trade policy. He argued that tariffs are “bad for American families and the national economy” and could be an electoral disaster for Republicans during the midterms in a Fox News op-ed on April 4.
Golden praised Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2, stating, “Tariffs are a first step in rewriting a rigged trade system, but they cannot be the last one.”
He suggested Democratic lawmakers flip-flopped on trade policy due to Trump coming out strongly in support of tariffs, in a statement to Axios.
“I remember Dems being outraged by the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, all these trade deals, even as recently as TPP,” Golden told Axios, referring to the failed trade agreement negotiated by former President Barack Obama that Trump killed upon taking office in January 2017.
“Now all of a sudden it’s like a complete 180 degree flip here where we’re staunchly defending the importance and relevance of the stock market to the American economy and defending free trade deals,” the congressman continued.
Golden is one of 13 House Democrats representing districts Trump won in November. House Republicans’ campaign arm named Golden in their list of Democratic incumbents they are looking to defeat during the midterms.
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