04-04-2025
Who does our Congressional delegation stand with? Montana or Trump?
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, speaks to Kaitlan Collins on CNN about the Trump tariffs, confirming that Americans will feel economic pain (Screenshot CNN).
There's no other way to put it — the insane global tariff war Donald Trump started will have disastrous consequences for our country and international trade across the globe, a flood of which have already begun. Yet, despite the widely-predicted impacts to many, if not all, of Montana's economic and social sectors, our all-Republican congressional delegation somehow thinks their partisan loyalty to an arguably deranged president is more important than taking care of their constituents.
Let's see, do Reps. Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing, Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, think the crashing global stock market is a wonderful thing for Montanans' retirement investments? The crashing is indisputable — the DOW dropped a stunning 1,600 points at its first opening after Trump's tariff tragedy struck.
Yet, all four of these mighty MAGA warriors are as quiet as church mice, hiding in their Congressional offices instead of exercising their Constitutionally-established function as a separate-but-equal branch of government providing checks and balances on executive excesses.
And make no mistake, this executive is setting new records for abuse of power and lack of respect for and adherence to the Constitution. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution vests the power to lay and collect tariffs with the Oval Office.
Which begs the question — why oh why would Montana's congressional delegation willingly give up that authority when dire consequences for their own constituents are at stake?
Given that a huge chunk of Montana's economy is directly dependent upon agricultural production — and the ability to sell those products internationally — who would ever cede control over that complex web of global trade to a guy whose apparent understanding of agricultural production is: 'Groceries. It's such an old-fashioned term, but a beautiful term: groceries. It sort of says a bag with different things in it.' Or, in his more detailed explanation: 'The word 'grocery,' it's a sort of simple word. But it sort of means, like, everything you eat.'
For someone who doesn't even understand what groceries are, how can we expect him to understand that almost everything in every hardware and appliance store in the U.S. is 'Made in China' when he slaps a 34% tariff on those imports? When do you figure the last time Trump bought a garden hose, a dishwasher, refrigerator or even a screwdriver? 'Never' would be the right answer. And that says nothing about parts for your cars, trucks, tractors, backhoes, appliances…you know, the necessities of life, particularly in a rural state like Montana.
It's worth remembering that our GOP delegation has made cutting taxes one of their primary goals. Yet, according to economists, the new tariff war will be the single largest tax increase on Americans in the last 30 years and 'will cost American importers about $2.1 trillion in additional taxes over the next decade, costs that are passed along to consumers, according to a Tax Foundation estimate.'
GOP Sen. Rand Paul has already predicted the tariffs will result in the 'decimation' of the Republican Party. If Montana's congressional delegation won't stand up for their constituents as the mass layoffs, price increases, market crashes and economic uncertainty ravage the nation, maybe they'll at least act to preserve their own political party.
The Trade Review Act of 2025 has already been introduced in reaction to the Trump tariff disaster. Montana's Congressional delegation must cease silently kneeling at the MAGA throne and support this bill to restore limits on a president's ability to impose unilateral tariffs without congressional approval — or give up the phony charade of protecting the future for Montanans and our nation.
