A Senate resolution (SJR 49) rejecting President Trump’s imposition of worldwide tariffs nearly succeeded on Wednesday, but an unexpected absence let Vice President J.D. Vance cast a tiebreaking vote to defeat the measure. The surprising drama reveals uncharacteristic chaos in the U.S. Congress’s upper chamber.

The resolution aimed to disapprove of President Trump’s emergency order establishing the “Liberation Day” tariffs. As a dozen state attorneys general recently argued in a federal lawsuit, the Constitution explicitly places the power to levy tariffs and other taxes within the legislative branch. Even when Congress delegates its authority to the executive branch, it always technically retains the authority to nullify executive actions by passing a resolution of disapproval (although the president can veto such resolutions, which strikes me as a great flaw in the balance of power).

In this instance, Senate Democrats tried to muscle through just such a resolution. Although the minority party, they had secured the support of four Republicans for their tariff cancellation plan — just enough to carry the vote.

At least, that was the plan. When tallied, the final vote was 49-49. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) joined 46 Democrats in voting against the Trump tariffs. “Bilateral trade deficits do not constitute a national emergency,” argued Murkowski, “nor do they qualify as an ‘unusual and extraordinary’ circumstance needed to unlock authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.”

For his part, Paul joined in this unlikely coalition with the Senate’s two most liberal Republicans due to his inflexible adherence to constitutional propriety. “The Constitution clearly states that Congress, not the president, has the power of the purse. All new taxes (which is what a tariff is) are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate for approval,” he wrote.

The mathematically inclined will notice that there were also two absences on the vote. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) was away at an oceans summit in South Korea, which means that Democratic leadership knew they couldn’t count on his vote. But the second absence was the fourth Republican vote that Democrats needed — Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

A McConnell spokesman told the press that he would have voted with Democrats if he had been present. “The Senator has been consistent in opposing tariffs and that a trade war is not in the best interest of American households and businesses. He believes that tariffs are a tax increase on everybody,” he said. The statement did not explain McConnell’s absence.

CNN stated that McConnell was “under the weather.” This is easily believable, given that McConnell has visibly been in poor health since he first appeared to freeze mid-sentence during a press conference in 2023. However, CNN did not provide any further description or support for this claim.

As a result of McConnell’s unexplained absence, the Senate resolution was hung on a tie vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) then called Vance to the U.S. Capitol to cast the tie-breaking vote against the resolution. Vance’s tie-breaker — his second since taking office, after his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense — ensured that Democrats could bring up the tariff resolution again.

Embattled Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) attempted to spin this unexpected failure as a victory. “It was a win-win either way,” he claimed. “If we won the vote, it was a good win, like we won the Canada vote. But we knew if we lost, every single Republican, including those up for election, was the single vote that kept tariffs, kept these onerous tariffs on the backs of the American people. And so Republicans own it.”

Despite this rose-colored thinking, losing the vote was, of course, a loss for Senate Democrats, one made even sorer because they expected a win. The minority party in Congress has little to no opportunity to derail the president’s agenda at any time. But attempting to try, then failing unexpectedly, makes it seem that Democrats can’t even count the votes they have in the bag. 

At the same time, the close call illustrates the way in which Trump’s tariffs have fractured the Republican coalition. Democrats managed to put Senate Republicans on record in support of Trump’s tariffs — something which could hurt them come election time — and nearly succeeded in disapproving the tariffs. And this lapse of control was due solely to Republican defections.

Neither party emerged stronger from this drama. Senate Republicans showed how narrow and fragile their margin of control is. Senate Democrats showed that they still cannot muster an effective response to the Trump agenda. The episode will likely serve as a prologue for greater drama in the Senate — perhaps with greater desperation, or at least greater fireworks — as it limps along through the Trump era.