Emily Ekins and Jonah Messinger
This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider a Russia sanctions bill that would give the president new authority to impose tariffs without congressional approval. Among its provisions, it would allow the president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on goods from countries that purchase or help facilitate the purchase of Russian energy, potentially affecting several major US trading partners. Thus, it would create a new source of presidential tariff authority without a congressional check.
Yet voters appear reluctant to grant presidents additional unilateral tariff authority. A forthcoming Cato Institute/Morning Consult survey report of 2,002 registered voters to be published later this week finds that 70% of voters say the president should be required to get approval from Congress before imposing tariffs on imports.
Notably, support for Congress having final say over tariffs is bipartisan. Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats agree that Congress should provide approval for any tariffs the president sets, including 56% of Republicans, 68% of independents, and 86% of Democrats. Similarly, voters who turned out to vote for President Trump in 2024 also favor congressional approval of tariffs (54%), rather than giving the president unilateral power.
The idea that Congress, rather than the president, should have the final say over tariffs is broadly shared. Majorities of men (70%), women (70%), White Americans (68%), Black Americans (77%), Hispanic Americans (71%), Americans under 30 (73%), Americans 65 and older (67%), those with high school degrees or less (66%) or post-graduate degrees (71%), and those who say they know a lot about tariffs (82%) or a little (68%) all believe the president should get approval from Congress before imposing tariffs.
Taken together, the findings suggest that voters broadly favor a congressional check on presidential tariff authority. Although the survey did not ask voters specifically about the Russia sanctions legislation, its results indicate that, across parties and demographic groups, Americans generally believe presidents should seek Congress’s approval before imposing tariffs.
Please contact Jonah Messinger at jmessinger@cato.org for further information about the forthcoming survey toplines and methodology.
