Schumer Threatens to ‘Force’ a Senate Vote on Repealing Trump’s Tariffs

The minority leader blamed the tariffs for August’s soft jobs numbers. He did not specify how the Senate Democrats could bring a bill to the floor.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks to reporters at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 3, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats are threatening to force a vote on repealing import tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

The announcement was made on social media by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in response to news reports that job growth in the United States slowed in August. Democrats have attributed the slowdown to tariffs, alleging that other countries’ retaliatory tariffs have hurt U.S. exporters.

“Senate Democrats will force votes to reverse Donald Trump’s damaging tariffs,” Schumer wrote on X.

He provided no details about when the vote may occur, what tariffs would be affected, or how the minority party could “force” a vote.

Repealing tariffs would require the assent of the House, which has a Republican majority and would be unlikely to pass such a repeal. Even if Congress passed a bill, it would face the president’s veto. To override that, a two-thirds majority vote would be required in both houses.

The U.S. unemployment rate increased slightly to 4.3 percent, up from 4.2 percent in July, which was itself an increase. On a net basis, 22,000 jobs were added in August, according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released the highly anticipated report.

Across industries, the “goods-producing” sector lost the most jobs, 25,000. Within this group, manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs.

The net 22,000 increase was almost entirely the result of growth in “service providing” jobs, which added 63,000 hires, with private education and health services (i.e., hospitals and universities) contributing 46,000 new jobs, and leisure and hospitality adding 28,000. Those gains were partly offset by losses in other service sectors such as business services.

Federal government employment continued to decline in August, according to the report, shedding 15,000 jobs.

The new data were criticized by Democrats, who attributed the weak report to Trump’s policies.

“The August jobs report is the latest indication that Donald Trump is crashing our economy in real time and driving us toward a recession,” wrote Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the House minority leader and head of its Democratic caucus.

The president has blamed the recent figures on the Federal Reserve and the chair of its board of governors, Jerome Powell, for not cutting interest rates. Trump has frequently harangued Powell on social media for the Fed’s refusal to lower interest rates.

“The interest rates are too high. That was, you know, the matter of the Fed,” Trump said at an appearance in the Oval Office on Sept. 5, when asked about the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Since beginning his second term, Trump has pursued an aggressive tariff agenda on imports, saying the levies can correct what he said are unfair trade practices against the United States, generate revenue, and promote U.S. manufacturing.

On Aug. 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the president had overstepped his authority when he imposed reciprocal tariffs on imports in April using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

On Sept. 3, the Trump administration filed a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling, asking the court to review what the president called “one of the most important” cases to go before the tribunal.

The administration wrote in its Sept. 3 appeal that the Supreme Court “has long approved broad congressional delegations to the President to regulate international trade, including through tariffs” and that the statute’s authorization of the president to regulate importation encompasses the power to impose tariffs.

Melanie Sun and Gary Bai contributed to this report.