Kevin Kiley: “I wanted to discuss two votes that occurred this week that have been broadly characterized as relating to tariffs.…”

“I wanted to discuss two votes that occurred this week that have been broadly characterized as relating to tariffs. However, the issues are a little more nuanced than they have generally been portrayed. Let's start with the vote that occurred on Wednesday. It is always good to look at the actual text because that, at the end of the day, is the only thing that matters. This was a vote on a rule which is a kind of arcane procedural mechanism that we have here in the House for bringing bills to the floor for consideration and setting the terms of debate. When you vote on the rule, Mr. Speaker, you are not voting on the bills themselves, you are just bringing them to the floor where they will eventually be voted on. There is this norm of voting in favor of rules, which I have always done, because if you don't do that, Mr. Speaker, then the business of the House grinds to a halt. The only times in which I haven't done that are when the form of a rule, the mechanism of a rule, is abused for some purpose that actually impacts policy. That is what we had in this particular rule.”