U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine, Mark Warner and Amy Klobuchar have filed a bill in the U.S. Senate to reverse Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.
The way the senators filed the bill will require a vote on the Senate floor, so, we’ll at least get to see Senate Republicans having to side with the president on his nonsense tariffs.
As to how the tariffs hit home, Canada, according to the latest federal data, is Virginia’s largest export market and accounts for 15 percent of Virginia exports.
The most recent data tells us the top goods exports to Canada included motor vehicles and transportation equipment, such as medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
The data shows us that 56.1 percent of Southwest Virginia’s economic output is dependent on trade.
“Virginians and Americans across the country have been loud and clear: they want lower prices, not higher ones. They want economic growth, not a recession, which even Trump admits could result from his misguided economic policies. I look forward to this legislation coming to the floor for a vote so every senator can publicly answer this question: are you willing to put your constituents and our economy above Trump’s worst impulses?” said Kaine, D-Va.
“President Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods will hurt Virginians and hurt the American people. When he ran for office, he promised the American people lower costs. This baseless trade war with one of our closest allies has the exact opposite impact, raising prices on everything from groceries to houses and cars. It’s time for Congress to step in,” said Warner, D-Va.
Correcting for DOGE’s mistakes
Warner and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have introduced the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act, legislation aimed at protecting recently fired federal workers.
The legislation would ensure that if and when – and it’s not a matter of if, but when – fired employees are reinstated, they will not need to restart their probationary period for the same job they previously held.
Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, D-Md.
“Over the past 50 days, more than 20,000 non-political civil servants have been ruthlessly booted from their jobs without cause. Unsurprisingly, a number of these individuals are now being reinstated, either through legal proceedings or because the Trump-Musk administration has realized that these jobs were necessary, and these employees not easily replaced,” Warner said. “This important legislation would ensure that those dedicated civil servants are able to pick back up where they left off and finish out their probationary periods without penalty.”
DOGE canceled contracts helping burn pit victims?
Kaine joined a group of his colleagues in demanding that the Trump administration reverse its cancellation of hundreds of Department of Veterans Affairs contracts, including those that help veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins access life-saving healthcare.
This care is guaranteed under the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act (PACT Act), which Kaine helped pass and has provided care and benefits to over one million veterans.
Contracts targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration help provide the necessary personnel and resources to conduct outreach to eligible veterans, screen applicants, and process claims.
“Carrying out such arbitrary cuts and contract cancellations under the excuse of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse is exactly the form of cynical action that prioritizes talking points about wasteful government spending rather than helping the veterans who have honorably served the American people…Any actions to hamstring implementation of the PACT Act – which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support – betrays our veterans and fully disregards congressional intent,” the senators wrote in a letter to the VA.
Another way Trump/Musk is screwing veterans
Kaine and Warner have also joined 24 Senate colleagues in demanding answers from VA Secretary Doug Collins regarding plans to cut more than 80,000 VA employees this year, a number that includes at least 20,000 veterans.
“We write today regarding a memo issued by your Chief of Staff on March 4, and later proudly announced by you via Twitter, detailing a plan to reduce the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workforce to 2019 levels,” the senators wrote in a letter to Collins. “Over the past five years, there have been monumental bipartisan expansions and improvements to veterans’ health care and benefits. Your proposal puts all of them at risk. And we believe it is blatantly dishonest to claim veterans’ healthcare and benefits will not be impacted by the termination of up to 83,000 employees, including 20,000 veterans.”
“We urge you to start putting veterans first—to review VA’s own data, listen to your leadership and frontline staff on the ground serving veterans every day, and talk to veterans and their families. When you do, you will come to the one and only legitimate conclusion—that massive, arbitrary staff cuts will not make the Department more efficient nor improve care and benefits for veterans. In fact, they will have the opposite effect, and they will dishonor the contract the United States made with these veterans when they signed up to risk their lives in service to our nation,” the senators wrote in their letter.
Share
Chris Graham
