https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs Trade & Tariffs en-US Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:48:05 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/trump-canada-midterms-foreign-beef Igor Bobic Republican lawmakers are criticizing the president’s decision to impose new tariffs on Canada and import more foreign beef. Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:48:05 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/trump-canada-midterms-foreign-beef President Donald Trump’s latest trade policies are creating new political headaches for Republicans, threatening their efforts to address voters’ economic concerns less than three months from the midterm elections.

In the past week, Trump escalated a costly trade war with Canada and allowed cheap beef imports to flood the U.S. market, angering many in his party who believe his policies are harming key industries and making things more expensive for consumers and businesses alike.

The GOP opposition was public and swift, and included Republican candidates and party leaders.

“We’ve got 71 days [until the election], and right now we don’t have a positive message to sell farm country, and we haven’t since Liberation Day last year,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) told reporters at the Capitol on Monday, referring to the sweeping tariffs Trump announced on many countries last year.

Many Republicans in Congress disagree with the president’s reliance on tariffs, but for the most part they have deferred to give him some space to see whether they work over time. But these latest announcements — in the middle of a heated campaign season — triggered a more blunt response about the impacts.

“Besides being good neighbors, Canada is also North Dakota’s largest export market, making any deterioration of our trade relationship needlessly painful for North Dakotans,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) said in a statement to NOTUS. “Canada is not China, and our policies ought to reflect the strategic benefits we get from having strong economies, bolstered by free and fair trade, on both sides of the border. However, I am confident things will get on track.”

After trade negotiations between the Trump administration and Canada broke down over the weekend, Trump imposed tariffs on about $28 billion in Canadian imports and vowed to impose additional levies on cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel if a deal isn’t reached by Jan. 1, 2027. Canada retaliated with its own tariffs on U.S. goods and is now looking overseas to other trading partners like the European Union.

The trade spat will be felt particularly in states along the U.S.-Canadian border, including Maine, where vulnerable Republican Sen. Susan Collins is battling for election to a sixth term.

“Imposing tariffs on Canada is a mistake,” Collins reiterated during a campaign stop Monday, asserting that Trump’s policies would hurt U.S. businesses and raise the price of lobsters, blueberries, lumber and other Maine products.

“I really want us to go back to the very friendly, economically beneficial relationship that we have with our Canadian neighbors,” she said.

Collins skipped a rally with Vice President JD Vance in Brewer, Maine, on Monday, citing a scheduling conflict. At the event, Vance defended the administration’s tariffs and urged the Canadian government to “stop taking advantage of the people of Maine” by implementing a fairer trade policy.

In New Hampshire, another state that shares a border with Canada, John Sununu, the top Republican Senate contender, said a trade war “makes no sense” and urged the Trump administration to work out a deal.

“Canada is an ally. They’re an important trading partner, fairly important to travel and tourism,” Sununu, a former U.S. senator, told WKBK radio. “We shouldn’t have tariffs on building materials. Housing costs are being driven by inflation in building materials, and we don’t need to add tariffs on top of that.”

Trump’s policies are also putting Republican candidates on the defensive in Michigan, Ohio and Alaska, states that count Canada as an important trading partner.

In Michigan, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed accused Trump of escalating a trade fight with Canada “for his own vanity,” adding that his Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, is a “rubber stamp” for his policies.

“Even before this new round, Canadian tariffs were costing Michigan families an additional $3,200 a year. It’s going to get much worse,” El Sayed wrote in a post online. Rogers has defended Trump’s use of tariffs as a means to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.

Polls show voters have major concerns about Trump’s handling of the economy, including cost increases driven by his war with Iran. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed just 33 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, the lowest mark of his second term.

Many Republicans also criticized Trump’s decision to import tariff-free beef, which he argued is needed to lower consumer prices. But critics said it would harm American ranchers.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, wrote in a post online: “Americans want US beef on the table — not foreign imports.” He added: “Wyoming ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Our ranchers don’t ask for special treatment. They simply want a fair marketplace. It needs to be easier — not harder — for Wyoming ranchers to feed America.”

Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican running in one of the most competitive Senate races, called it a “bad idea” that would harm her constituents.

“We grow the highest quality beef here in Iowa, and so absolutely I’ll be advocating to the administration because I think we need to be focusing on growing the herd the right way,” she told reporters at the Iowa State Fair on Monday.

But Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), whose state also borders Canada, said Republicans needed to do more than simply criticize Trump’s economic policies by wresting back congressional authority to levy tariffs. A narrow bipartisan Senate majority has voted several times to roll back Trump’s tariffs over the past year, but the Republican-controlled House has ignored that effort.

Trump “has met his match” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Welch added.

“Carney has decided to stand up to a bully … and what we need in this country is Republicans to stand up to that same bully,” Welch said in an interview with NOTUS. “My Republican colleagues do not support tariffs. They know they’re hurting their consumers and their businesses, and they know the president has no authority to impose them — literally none.”

The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs, but both parties over time have ceded that authority to the executive.

“[Republicans are] backing down, and there's going to be hell to pay in November as a result of that weak-kneed capitulation,” Welch said.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/democrats-trade-agenda-usmca Jade Lozada, Violet Jira Democrats see the Trump administration’s renegotiations of USMCA as a political opportunity. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:11:29 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/democrats-trade-agenda-usmca Democrats say they have an opportunity to stand up to President Donald Trump on trade. They just haven't reached a consensus on what their trade agenda is.

The Trump administration opened the door to a renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. In a hearing with senators this week, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he wanted interim agreements with both countries by the end of the year, and to tackle thornier issues in 2027.

Those talks, according to Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-California), are Democrats’ chance to “take back trade” from Republicans, who he says have conceded to the president’s aggressive tariff regime. 

But Democrats, he said, need to get to work smoothing out their policy differences.

“The consensus isn't developed yet,” Panetta said. “But I think now more than ever we should be.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, led a letter to Trump in November advocating for “significant renegotiations,” primarily to address Mexican wage issues, create new labor and environmental protections and enforce existing ones. That letter was signed by 104 other House Democrats.

Panetta was not one of them. The New Democrat Coalition wrote a letter, led by Panetta, last November advocating for more of a fine-tuning of the agreement. Only a handful of Democrats like Reps. Darren Soto (D-Florida), Tom Suozzi (D-New York) and Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) signed both letters.

“I would say 90% of the congressional Democrats, House and Senate, have a particular position, which is pretty much reflected in DeLauro’s letter, which lays out at a high level the whole kit and the caboodle,” Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program and an expert on congressional trade battles, told NOTUS. “However, there are outliers.”

These are the big-picture ideas Democrats agree on: they don’t want to exit the deal entirely as Trump has threatened to, they want certainty for businesses and, broadly, they want to strengthen labor and environmental protections.

The disagreements come down to the specifics. For example, DeLauro called for stronger rules of origin — the guidelines that specify a product’s nationality — whereas Rep. Linda Sánchez of California, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means trade subcommittee, instead argued that existing rules just needed clarification.

DeLauro’s letter panned USMCA as a failure that offshored U.S. manufacturing jobs. The New Democrats’ letter makes no mention of offshoring, and the coalition called the trade agreement a “cornerstone of North American competitiveness” in a letter Monday.

Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Oregon) said her Democratic colleagues in DeLauro's trade policy working group who supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, which USMCA replaced, are engaging in talks on strategically deploying tariffs to protect American jobs from offshoring.

“What we have seen in Mexico is that wages are lower, environmental standards are not the same as we have here, and it's not fair that we offshore issues like underpayment of workers or environmental degradation to another country. We can't be blind to that,” Hoyle said.

“They are open to that conversation, and I'm talking to people who come from very, very different places on what tariffs should be, and I feel like we're in a really good place,” she added.

As they find their footing, multiple Democrats signaled frustration over communication between the Trump administration and Congress on USMCA.

“I’ve been surprised that there has not been consultation,” Rep. Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts) told NOTUS last week of the White House’s communication with Congress.

Democrats said there’s been a more open line of communication with Greer. DeLauro told NOTUS that she and others met with Greer recently to discuss their interests.

So far, Democrats’ efforts to exert influence over USMCA have been limited to letters and statements, hampered by the fact that they are in the minority. But they could find themselves in a position of real leverage and influence should they take the House in the midterms.

After Democrats won back the House in 2018, the new majority forced the Trump administration to redo USMCA negotiations to secure members’ votes. Unlike in 2019, however, approval from Congress is not required unless the Trump administration negotiates changes to the USMCA that are significant enough to require legislation to be changed or updated. Already the administration has signaled it does not want the agreement to go to Congress.

“If Dems take back the House they, have substantial oversight capabilities, which is a really important tool to drive the narrative through hearings and engaging with the administration,” said Allison Smith, a vice president at communications and lobbying firm Lot Sixteen and a former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative.

Democrats are prioritizing trade on the campaign trail. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee cited tariffs as one of Republicans’ biggest vulnerabilities heading into the crucial elections.

In the interim, Panetta and DeLauro told NOTUS they think the differences are surmountable.

“We voted for it the first time around. Now we're talking about what are the changes that need to be made, and you know where we are on digital trade, wages and offshoring. You know, the environmental piece,” she said. “The rapid-response mechanisms work, but it's got to be better. We’ve got to focus on making the agreement more worker-centric.”

“I think the discussions are beginning. I think we can come out in the same place.”

Panetta, however, did raise another possible complication. Some congressional Democrats are just not up to speed on the issue.

“There are different levels of understanding of trade by different levels of members,” Panetta told NOTUS. “There are members who aren't really as on trade, yet they're politically driven rather than policy driven.”

This story has been updated to clarify the involvement of Rep. Rosa DeLauro's working group in trade negotiations.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/trump-canada-goods-tariffs Violet Jira An administration official denied they are “the so-called wildfire tariffs.” Mon, 20 Jul 2026 21:52:16 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/trump-canada-goods-tariffs President Donald Trump signed three proclamations Monday that place a 50% tariff on select Canadian goods, which could increase the price of some products imported to the United States from its northern neighbor.

The new tariffs, levied via a never-before-used statute, are the largest tariffs the Trump administration has placed on any country since the Supreme Court limited Trump’s tariff authority in February.

No United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement exemptions will be honored for the lengthy list of affected goods ranging from wood and wood furniture to apparel and cosmetics. This is a change from last year, when USMCA exemptions partially shielded Canada from the double-digit tariffs placed by Trump on Canada and dozens of other countries. They are set to go into effect in 30 days.

The new tariffs come days after Trump threatened Canada with tariffs over wildfire smoke and less than a month after the United States declined to rubber-stamp an extension of the free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A senior administration official told reporters the tariffs are being levied independently of any of these recent events.

“These are not the so-called wildfire tariffs. The president has asked for options on that, and options are being shared with him. These tariffs are in response to discriminatory mistreatment by Canada against U.S. products,” the official said in a call with reporters.

The administration cited Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president to impose tariffs on countries that discriminate against U.S. commerce.

A senior administration official told reporters that Canada’s decision to retaliate against tariffs from the U.S. by limiting the sale of American liquor in Canadian government-owned liquor stores and putting quotas on American vehicles and dairy products amounted to discrimination.

“These are defensive measures by the United States taken to remedy discriminatory actions by Canada, as the president has made very clear. Both in his campaign and during his administration for the past year and a half, the United States has taken action to protect its national security and to rebalance trade,” the official said.

On July 1, the U.S. opted for a series of annual reviews as opposed to extending the USMCA agreement for 16 years as is. The U.S. has engaged in bilateral talks with Mexico but not Canada.

The official said the U.S. “remains open to discussions with our Canadian trading partners, especially in the context of the USMCA review.”

Over the course of the second Trump administration, the relationship between the U.S. and Canada has continued to devolve, spurred by Trump’s tariffs on Canada and other countries last year.

Trump shared a box with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the World Cup finals on Sunday, a day before announcing the tariffs.

“Although the president and the prime minister met and they had a one-on-one, it was not a visit to talk about trade and tariffs from our perspective,” the administration official told reporters.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/trump-declines-renew-usmca Jade Lozada The White House will instead conduct yearly reviews of the North American trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:41:55 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trade-tariffs/trump-declines-renew-usmca The U.S. will not renew its trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, senior administration officials announced on Wednesday — another example of the president’s increasing willingness to leverage trade policy against even the country’s allies.

Wednesday marked the deadline for the U.S., Mexico and Canada to renew the USMCA trade agreement, though President Donald Trump has signaled wavering interest in maintaining the deal as is for months. Instead, the White House said it would now conduct yearly reviews of the deal Trump signed in his first term, which he called “the best agreement we’ve ever made.”

“We chose not to rubber-stamp USMCA renewal without addressing existing issues,” a senior administration official told reporters on Wednesday. “In other words, the United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form.”

Over the past several months of negotiations, the Trump administration sought to reduce the trade deficit with the two countries and increase U.S. market access. Dairy industry disputes with Canada, corn exports to Mexico and “constant threats to our trade and energy” are among the reasons the U.S. backed out of renewing the deal, the official said on Wednesday.

The countries will have 10 years to reach an agreement on outstanding issues before the USMCA expires in 2036. Canada and Mexico, the country’s top trading partners, were interested in extending the agreement by 16 years — though renegotiation talks with Canada had been fragile for months.

“They did not deliver on some of the things that we expected,” the official said. “These were always under threat, which is not what the agreement was intended to be. So that’s really what is at the heart of it.”

Last year, the U.S. imported more than $900 billion in Mexican and Canadian goods, which are tariff-free under the USMCA.

The decision will hit industries running supply chains up and down the continent hardest, such as automotive companies that manufacture parts across the borders and assemble vehicles in the U.S., or the steel and aluminum industries that source its metals in Canada.

Mexico and Canada found themselves on opposite ends of the Trump administration’s favor heading into the negotiations. The senior administration official noted that Canada is one of the few countries that “retaliated” against Trump’s tariff policies, while Mexico has been a more cooperative negotiating partner.

The U.S. will hold a third round of bilateral talks with Mexico during the week of July 20 to discuss outstanding issues, including economic security, labor violations, the environment and intellectual property, the official said. Among the U.S.’s biggest concerns are rules of origin — provisions that dictate from where manufacturing parts must come, so countries like China can’t benefit from the agreement’s terms.

Talks will continue with Canada as well, though the official did not address when those will take place.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/courts/supreme-court-trump-power-independent-agencies-slaughter-ftc Jade Lozada The high court said the president had the authority to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission. Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:28:05 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/courts/supreme-court-trump-power-independent-agencies-slaughter-ftc The Supreme Court has expanded the president’s authority over independent agencies, ruling against former Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, who was fired by President Donald Trump last year.

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices argued that at-will removal protections for members violates the Constitution’s separation of powers.

“The FTC unquestionably exercises executive power, and must therefore be controlled by the Chief Executive, in whom such power is vested. It follows, then, that Slaughter served as the President’s subordinate at the FTC—and that the President was entitled to cut her tenure short,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion in the case of Trump v. Slaughter.

Trump fired Slaughter and another former Democratic FTC commissioner, Alvaro Bedoya, in March 2025, writing in their termination letters that their “continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with my administration’s priorities.”

Slaughter and Bedoya sued the Trump administration for unlawful termination under the legislation creating the agency, which limits the reasons for the president’s removal of a commissioner to “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Bedoya later removed himself as a plaintiff in the case to seek other work.

The decision in the Slaughter case overturns a seminal Supreme Court ruling for independent federal agencies, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which affirmed at-will removal protections for FTC commissioners and has since been cited in many legal opinions.

The government argued that today’s FTC is a far cry from the commission in the 1935 case because it now exercises executive powers, including the authority to investigate potential violations of federal law and adjudicate claims itself. That puts FTC commissioners more firmly under the president’s authority, Justice Department attorneys argued.

In an interview with NOTUS in February, Slaughter said Trump’s decision to terminate her threatened the ability of independent agency leaders to do their jobs free of political considerations and corrupt schemes to influence policy. It also usurps Congress’ constitutional powers over independent agencies.

“I’m just a public servant who wants to do the job that she took an oath to do,” Slaughter said. “If one branch is acting without checks from the other two, that is a breakdown of the constitutional order that we are supposed to have.”

After the opinion came out, Slaughter said in a statement that "the consequences of this ruling will be felt by every American in both tangible and imperceptible ways.

"Today’s ruling makes it possible for presidents to fire watchdogs who won’t put politics over principle, and replace them with lapdogs," she said. "It’s a recipe for corruption; working families will pay the price.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissenting opinion, wrote that the majority decision infringes on the constitutional powers of Congress, giving the president “a power unknown even to the English Crown against which the Founders revolted, elevating him above his once coequal branches by transforming a duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed into a license to act in defiance of those very laws.”

Sotomayor added that the decision assumes the Court “knows better” than the founders of the agencies themselves on the question of removal.

A federal District Court judge sided with Slaughter in July last year, arguing that the FTC possessed those powers when the Supreme Court heard Humphrey’s Executor. The government appealed the District Court’s decision, eventually bringing the question of at-will removal protections before the Supreme Court once again.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/money/seafarers-international-union-pac-alleged-embezzlement Taylor Giorno Federal documents indicate she allegedly misappropriated large sums of money from the Seafarers International Union’s political committees. She told federal regulators it was a “mistake.” Tue, 05 May 2026 09:33:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/seafarers-international-union-pac-alleged-embezzlement The daughter of the president of the Seafarers International Union has been accused of embezzling large sums of money from the union’s two political action committees, according to communications and other disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission and reviewed by NOTUS.

One of the Seafarers International Union PACs — the Political and Legislative Organization On Watch — accused Chelsea Diab of engaging in “a multi-year effort of misappropriation of Committee funds to her personal bank account and uses and filing false reports with the Commission,” according to a letter it sent to the FEC on March 20.

Then, on April 28, a related committee — the Seafarers Political Activity Donation PAC — told the FEC that it would soon amend previously filed campaign finance reports to “disclose discovered misappropriations” by Diab, who served as both committees’ treasurer.

Diab, who has also gone by Chelsea D. Heindel, is the daughter of Seafarers International Union President David Heindel, according to the letter that the Political and Legislative Organization On Watch sent to the FEC in March.

The Seafarers International Union told the FEC it came to its conclusion about Diab after initiating a review of internal committee records. Diab has recently been fired, the letter adds.

Diab did not respond to numerous calls, texts and emails requesting comment and answers to a detailed list of questions, including whether she agreed with the characterization of events laid out in the public disclosures.

On March 3, the Seafarers Political Activity Donation PAC sent the FEC a one-line letter, under Diab’s name, that reads: “Funds were sent to account my [sic] mistake, company was reimbursed and will reflect on march report.”

Diab’s LinkedIn profile indicates she worked as an executive assistant for the Seafarers International Union until November 2025. Her profile now says she is “open to work.”
DiabLinkedIn (810x869, AR: 0.93)Heindel and Tom Orzechowski, the secretary-treasurer of the Seafarers International Union, did not respond to calls, texts and emails requesting comment and answers to a detailed list of questions, including exactly how much money had allegedly been misappropriated and whether any charges had been filed.

NOTUS also left messages with a receptionist at the Seafarers International Union’s office, who acknowledged NOTUS’ requests to interview Orzechowski.

It’s unclear whether law enforcement is involved with investigating the matter.

When NOTUS requested records related to the incident from the police department in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where the union is headquartered, the department denied the record request because “the person requesting the report is not listed on the report.” When NOTUS called the police department to confirm a report existed, a department official said they could not help unless NOTUS had a case number.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations declined to comment when asked if it was investigating the accusations against Diab.

In recent weeks, the Seafarers International Union has taken formal steps to recoup the money it said was misappropriated from its PAC operations. The Seafarers Political Activity Donation PAC disclosed receiving nearly $293,000 from Chubb and Son Federal Insurance Company on March 9 for “insurance recovery” related to “embezzlements by former Treasurer,” according to a report it filed with the FEC on April 20. Heindel, the union president, gave the Political and Legislative Organization Watch PAC more than $31,000 in November for “restitution of misappropriated funds,” according to FEC records.

The records also indicate Diab gave another $3,000 to the committee in January 2025 — several months before the union told the FEC it initiated a review — for the “return of misappropriated funds.”

The Seafarers International Union describes itself as the largest union representing maritime merchants, the workers who keep commercial tankers, military support ships and other vessels afloat and running. According to the AFL-CIO, the Seafarers International Union has about 80,000 members.

Donors to the Seafarers Political Activity Donation PAC are primarily merchant seamen, according to FEC data, which show the committee had about $551,000 in cash on hand at the end of March.

The Seafarers Political Activity Donation PAC has reported spending around $585,000 so far during the 2026 election cycle, including more than $33,000 in January for Washington Nationals box seats for the 2026 season.

It’s also made various donations to party committees including $15,000 each to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee. Its recent donations to congressional committees include $5,000 to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

The PAC also paid $62,500 for political strategy consulting to Isaac Lanier Avant, who lobbies for the Seafarers Political Activity Donation PAC and other unrelated clients, including the private prison contractor GEO Group.

Avant, a former congressional staffer, pleaded guilty in 2016 to “willfully failing to file an individual income tax return,” according to a Department of Justice press release. Avant did not respond to requests for comment.

The Political and Legislative Organization On Watch PAC reported around $36,500 in cash on hand at the end of March. It’s spent more than $11,200 so far this election cycle, including a “one-time balance adjustment” of around $10,350 to an unnamed recipient at the end of 2025.

At the end of February, the FEC sent a letter to the PAC noting the unauthorized use of committee funds and warning that the committee may take legal action.

But the FEC does not have enough commissioners to formalize investigations or issue penalties, so that appears unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Myles Martin, an FEC spokesperson, told NOTUS that the agency was unable to comment on potential enforcement matters. He pointed to “safe harbor” guidelines, including internal control requirements, for committees dealing with situations where their funds have been misappropriated.

The Seafarers International Union incident is the latest in a string of high-profile theft allegations against treasurers of political committees.

In March, NOTUS reported that the former treasurer of the National Venture Capital PAC pleaded guilty to charges related to embezzling more than $1 million, which he spent on luxury shopping trips and an expensive automotive club membership. The trade association PAC sent a letter to the FEC on May 4 that said the former treasurer, Jonas Murphy, had filed false reports with the agency “to disguise his theft.”

In February, Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb accused his former treasurer of "unauthorized withdrawals” from his U.S. House campaign fund, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

And Rolling Stone previously reported that Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia, as well as other Democratic political committees, had accused their treasurer of embezzling political contributions. Last summer, Katherine Buchanan, a former treasurer of several campaigns, pleaded guilty to embezzling around $840,000 from three federal candidates. She spent the money on a trip to Italy, a private suite at an Elton John concert and other personal expenses, according to The Washington Post.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/money/general-motors-lobbying-spending-tariffs-autonomous-vehicles Taylor Giorno The U.S. automaker revved up its government influence during the first three months of 2026, citing tariffs and autonomous vehicles among its policy priorities. Tue, 21 Apr 2026 21:28:38 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/general-motors-lobbying-spending-tariffs-autonomous-vehicles General Motors reported spending nearly $11.4 million on federal lobbying expenses during the first three months of 2026, more than the company has ever spent in a single quarter, according to new federal lobbying disclosures.

For comparison: The automotive giant spent about $8.2 million during the first quarter of 2025, then a record-breaking quarter for the company, when President Donald Trump took office and Republicans took control of both chambers of Congress.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/R1ZZx/2/Only the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Realtors and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — all trade associations — spent more on federal lobbying than General Motors during the first quarter of 2026. These were also the only four entities to spend more than $10 million on federal lobbying last quarter.

General Motors, which includes the Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands, historically spends more money on federal lobbying during the first quarter than it does during the second, third or fourth — just never to this degree.

A spokesperson for General Motors declined to comment on the record when asked what was driving the notable increase in federal lobbying expenses.

But in General Motors’ mandatory quarterly lobbying report to Congress, the company cited tariffs, autonomous vehicles and competition with China among its legislative priorities during the first three months of 2026.

General Motors also disclosed lobbying on a range of issues including legislation related to autonomous vehicles, including a House bill that would require manufacturers and dealers to provide a “clear and conspicuous” notice of automated driving systems.

And amid the United States’ war with Iran, General Motors also lobbied the Department of Defense on several matters, including “propulsion programs,” “infantry squad vehicle authorization” and “armored vehicle procurement” — all issues the company lobbied on prior to 2026.

In addition to both the U.S. House and Senate, General Motors reported lobbying a range of executive branch offices including the Department of Transportation, the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Executive Office of the President.

Last year was an especially challenging one for automakers, whom Trump hit with a 25% tariff on imported cars and car parts.

Tariffs have cost automakers at least $35 billion since 2025, according to an Automotive News analysis of companies’ financial reports.Lobbying expenses include compensation for in-house lobbyists and non-lobbyist employees, including executives, who make or support direct contacts with certain government agencies and officials.

That total also includes payments to outside lobbying firms and consultants, trade-association or coalition payments and other costs directly related to lobbying contacts and activities.

Since January 2025, when Trump took office, General Motors has hired four new outside lobbying firms, including Miller Strategies, a firm run by Trump ally Jeff Miller.

Miller Strategies — which has seen federal lobbying revenue skyrocket since Trump took office — lobbied on General Motors’ behalf on “general issues related to automotive industry.”

Former Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder of Venture Government Strategies also registered to lobby on “economic and tax policy impacting U.S. auto manufacturing and jobs” for General Motors starting in April 2025.

Federal lobbying expenses do not include contributions to political campaigns or grassroots or state lobbying expenses.

General Motors’ peers Ford and Stellantis, often referred to as the “Big Three,” did not make major changes to their own federal lobbying expenses during the first three months of 2026.

Ford reported more than $696,000 on federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2026, up from around $967,000 during the same period in 2025, according to federal lobbying data.

Ford also hired two separate outside lobbying firms last spring: Ryan Costello Strategies, led by former Republican Rep. Ryan Costello, and a team at Michael Best Strategies that includes Alexander Angelson, a former special assistant to Trump.

FCA US LLC, which does business as Stellantis, disclosed spending just over $1 million during the first three months of 2026 — a small decrease from the nearly $1.1 million it spent during the same period in 2025. Stellantis’ domestic brands include Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler.

All three companies disclosed lobbying federal policymakers on trade and tariff issues, among others, this year. Tariffs have pitted the automotive giants against each other on issues including potential tariffs on medium- and heavy-duty trucks, Bloomberg reported.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/congress/dccc-2026-midterm-election-democrats-trump-tariffs-liberation-day Alex Roarty On the anniversary of Trump’s “Liberation Day,” the DCCC says tariffs are now Republicans’ biggest 2026 liability. Thu, 02 Apr 2026 10:01:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/congress/dccc-2026-midterm-election-democrats-trump-tariffs-liberation-day President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs last April put Democrats in an awkward position, caught between their fervent opposition to the president and their traditional support for protectionist trade policies.

One year later, they appear to have moved past that dilemma.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of Trump’s tariffs with a renewed attack, arguing in a memo that the global levies had undercut Republicans’ promise to lower cost-of-living expenses.

“After running on lowering costs in 2024, House Republicans' support of Trump’s tariffs has turned their central 2024 promise into their biggest 2026 liability,” reads the memo, obtained by NOTUS.

The messaging is a signal that Democrats plan to put the president’s tariffs at the forefront of their midterm election campaigns, mentioning it explicitly in TV and digital ads that tie the duties to larger voter concerns about the economy. In interviews, top Democratic officials said any internal party strife over criticizing the tariffs has all but evaporated, replaced by a growing sense that GOP candidates are vulnerable on the issue.

“Remember, when these tariffs were rolled out a year ago, Republicans said tariffs were going to usher in a ‘golden age’ of America and they were going to be short term,” Rep. Suzan DelBene, the DCCC chair, told NOTUS in an interview. “And none of that has been true.”

Trump unilaterally issued a steep set of tariffs last year, marking a new era of global trade by reversing a long-standing move toward free trade between the United States and foreign countries. The president, who dubbed the unveiling of his tariffs as “Liberation Day,” said they were necessary to bring jobs back to the country and to rectify a massive trade imbalance with countries he accused of taking advantage of America.

Democrats countered that the tariffs are a de facto tax increase, raising the cost of everyday goods imported from abroad and making it more expensive to manufacture products domestically.

Trump relented on many of his original tariff rates in weeks and months following “Liberation Day,” striking trade deals with some countries to lower the levies. And in February, the Supreme Court ruled that the president’s enactment of the tariffs, without congressional approval, was illegal. Trump has attempted to re-implement some tariffs though a different executive authority.

Democratic attacks on the tariffs could backfire with some working-class voters, whose support has twice helped elect Trump to the presidency. And it might alienate some unions supportive of the measures, putting them at odds with a Democratic Party that’s tried in recent years to reinvigorate its ties to labor.

But polls show opposition to Trump’s trade policies are widespread. A survey from the Pew Research Center released Wednesday found that 63% of Americans have little or no confidence in the president’s handling of tariffs.

Democratic leaders say the party’s near-uniform opposition to Trump’s tariffs is in part because of the sudden and unilateral way he implemented them, bypassing Congress. But even critics of previous free-trade agreements like NAFTA say they also disagree with the levies because of their impact.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, told NOTUS that the president’s policies had hit farmers in her northwest Ohio district especially hard, making it more challenging for them to export goods like beef and grains to foreign markets. NAFTA was bad policy, she said, but so is Trump’s approach to trade.

“Trump isn’t making it better,” Kaptur said. “He’s making it worse.”]]> https://washingtonsun.com/economy/lawmakers-worried-small-businesses-trump-tariff-refund-system Jade Lozada Small businesses must navigate the federal tariff refund system to get the money they paid in emergency tariffs back. Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:00:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/economy/lawmakers-worried-small-businesses-trump-tariff-refund-system Small businesses that paid President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been largely left to fend for themselves as they navigate the administration’s refund system.

In Washington, the lawmakers calling for small businesses to be first in line to receive their share of the $166 billion paid in tariffs say that, for the most part, their hands are tied.

“I'm fighting for that to happen, but most of it's going to end up playing out in court, but it really matters to our small businesses in particular,” Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin said.

Baldwin said she met with the owners of a local textile company that laid off staff to afford tariffs on imported fabric — and now they wonder if they’ll get their money back.

In Wisconsin, importers paid $3.5 billion in tariffs from March to December 2025, according to the small business coalition We Pay The Tariffs. More than a dozen Wisconsin companies have sued the Trump administration for tariff refunds.

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U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is currently updating its duty payment processing system to issue refunds at scale. Officials must review more than 53 million entries filed by importers that include emergency tariff payments.

The development of the CBP system’s new functions to receive, process and refund these duties was mostly complete as of last week, according to court filings.

Once the process is set, it becomes a question of who has the resources and know-how to navigate CBP’s refund system. The Trump administration is requiring business owners to file their own claims.

CBP’s updated system will require importers to file a declaration detailing their payments of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to an affidavit filed in trade court earlier this month.

“It’s incumbent on smaller importers to do what they need to do to get their money," said Chris Duncan, a former CBP attorney who currently works as a tariffs and customs lawyer.

Sen. Ed Markey, the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, said that puts small businesses at a disadvantage.

“Small businesses do not have teams of legal and financial experts to submit their forms. Small businesses do not have the time to navigate this convoluted system,” Markey said in a call with business owners last week. “Small businesses need their refunds, and they need them now.”

Markey and 19 other Democratic senators sent a letter to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott on Friday demanding the agency automatically refund IEEPA tariffs through its existing system rather than the updated one.

“There is no principled reason for the Trump administration to conduct the refund process this way,” reads the letter, reviewed by NOTUS. “CBP already has the payment records it needs to issue refunds.”

Markey — along with Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeanne Shaheen — also introduced a bill that would require CBP to issue full tariff refunds with interest and prioritize returning money to small businesses.

Without buy-in from Republicans, however, Democratic senators say it will be up to the local communities to pressure the federal government.

“What is going to be most helpful is to create enough pressure in communities, particularly small communities,” Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said.

Rep. Mark Pocan, another Wisconsin Democrat, expressed concern about the “dysfunction” that could arise from companies trying to navigate the intricacies of the CBP’s refund system and answer to consumers who shouldered price increases.

“Bottom line is, we never should have done illegal tariffs to begin with. Congress should have stood up, as Democrats had asked for, for our constitutional authority around tariffs, and now we're going to wind up creating all kinds of dysfunction for businesses and individuals,” Pocan said.

Following the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling striking down his emergency tariffs in February, Trump said he would continue his tariff agenda using alternative legal authorities and imposed a 15% global tariff, which Congress must vote to extend later this year.

Trump allies in Congress say the president’s tariffs, which are unpopular among voters, are short-term pain for the long-term gain of balancing the U.S.’s trade relationships and attracting foreign investment.

Nevertheless, when asked if tariff refunds should be passed on to consumers, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald expressed openness to the idea.

“If it's something that they could actually draw, like a clear line or a bright line. You know, we had a lot of companies where the tariffs had a direct effect on aluminum out of Canada or textiles out of Vietnam, or — you know, it was all part of the manufacturing process,” Fitzgerald said.

“So I'm not sure how that would shake out either, if it was one element of a larger manufacturing versus, like, a straight retailer who was selling some type of consumer goods.”]]> https://washingtonsun.com/money/jonas-murphy-lobbyist-national-venture-capital-association-pac-plead-guilty Taylor Giorno Jonas Murphy, the now-former director of government affairs at the National Venture Capital Association, faces up to 10 years in prison. Wed, 11 Mar 2026 09:07:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/jonas-murphy-lobbyist-national-venture-capital-association-pac-plead-guilty A $9,180 shopping spree at a Manhattan clothing boutique.

A $67,000 automotive country club membership in New York.

And more than $5,000 in cash withdrawn from ATMs in Washington, D.C.

These are just a few of the ways prosecutors alleged Jonas Murphy, the now-former director of government affairs at the National Venture Capital Association, spent the more than $1 million he embezzled from his trade association’s political action committee, VenturePAC.

Murphy quietly pleaded guilty just before Christmas to felony interstate transportation of stolen property, according to the previously unreported plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

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The crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Prosecutors estimated a sentence of 24 to 37 months and a potential fine of $10,000 to $100,000, according to the plea deal.

His sentencing is scheduled for June 30.

The National Venture Capital Association said in a statement to NOTUS that it was “disheartened to learn that a former employee exploited his institutional knowledge and our trust during a period of high staff turnover at our small organization.”

“As soon as the fraud was discovered, NVCA voluntarily disclosed the issue to the FEC and referred the matter to law enforcement. The PAC was quickly and fully restituted, suffered no financial loss, and all political commitments were fulfilled,” the National Venture Capital Association wrote.

On June 17, 2025, the Federal Election Commission sent a letter to VenturePAC flagging “itemized disbursements” in April 2025 “for which you have failed to include the purpose.”

The PAC’s original report to the FEC listed disbursements to several prominent people working in venture capital, including Scale Venture Partners founder Kate Mitchell, Lightspeed Venture Partners co-founder Christopher Schaepe and Reach Capital co-founder Shauntel Garvey.

But VenturePAC filed an amended report at the end of January reattributing each as an "unauthorized disbursement” to Murphy. VenturePAC also filed amended reports dating back to the end of 2023, updating a total of more than 200 transactions to venture capitalists as an “unauthorized disbursement” to Murphy.

“With stronger guardrails and oversight systems in place, including independent third-party expert PAC management, we are confident any suspicious activity would now be immediately identified,” the National Venture Capital Association wrote.
JonasMurphyLinkedIn (408x374, AR: 1.09)When reached for comment Tuesday, Murphy hung up on a NOTUS reporter. Soon after, his LinkedIn and X social media pages vanished.

Murphy’s lawyer, G. Allen Dale, declined to comment, citing the upcoming sentencing hearing.

Among questions left unanswered: Whether Murphy will seek a pardon from President Donald Trump, who during his second term has granted clemency to numerous well-connected men convicted of financial crimes.

Federal court documents indicate Murphy’s financial crime spanned significant time. From December 2023 to June 2025, Murphy made 211 unauthorized transfers to six personal bank accounts “without his employer’s knowledge and without its permission,” according to a statement of offense.
FedCourtDoc (500x355, AR: 1.41)At the time, Murphy was treasurer of the National Venture Capital Association’s VenturePAC.

The political action committee “supports the re-election campaigns of members of Congress who are champions for our industry and the entrepreneurial ecosystem” and “helps amplify the startup ecosystem’s voice on Capitol Hill,” according to an FAQ published by the National Venture Capital Association.

It has also sometimes cheered Trump, noting how it was “eager to partner with the Trump-Vance Administration,” and praised Trump-led policy initiatives on cryptocurrency.

But from Dec. 1, 2023, to June 20, 2025, more than three-fourths of the nearly $1.4 million VenturePAC reported spending were “unauthorized disbursements” to Murphy, according to a NOTUS analysis of the PAC’s expenditures on the Federal Election Commission website.

VenturePAC later reported to the FEC that it received seven payments from mid-July 2025 to mid-September 2025 from Murphy totaling more than $1 million. The stated reason for the payments: “Reimbursement For Unauthorized Disbursement.”

The National Venture Capital Association also removed Murphy from its federal lobbying disclosure filing during the third quarter of 2025. Murphy had been registered to lobby for the trade association since the first quarter of 2020. He previously worked as a staffer for now-former Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania.

Murphy signed the plea deal on Dec. 11, 2025. On Jan. 21, 2026, he waived his right to a jury trial “with the consent of the United States Attorney and the approval of the Court.”
Jeanine Pirro AP - 25245649050868 (7167x4778, AR: 1.50)The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which is led by former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, did not publicize the plea deal. But a spokesperson told NOTUS this week that an announcement would likely come closer to Murphy’s sentencing.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Murphy was listed as a realtor at The Parker Group, a Delaware- and Maryland-focused real estate company.

“Before entering real estate, Jonas represented startups and investors at a trade association in Washington, D.C. and served on Capitol Hill,” according to his biography on The Parker Group website, which describes his ability to “build trusted relationships with stakeholders at all levels.”

After NOTUS contacted The Parker Group on Tuesday, the webpage featuring Murphy’s biography disappeared, replaced by the text: “Happy Page Not Found.”

Julie Ward, a general manager at The Parker Group, confirmed to NOTUS on Tuesday evening that the company had “terminated” Murphy’s employment upon learning about his plea agreement.

She declined to comment further.]]>