As Trump addresses Congress, Wisconsin members divided over trusting president on tariffs, cuts

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- As President Donald Trump delivered his first joint address to Congress since being elected to a second term, Wisconsin's congressional delegation was predictably split in its views of Mr. Trump's first six weeks in office.

Specifically, there is a sharp party-line contrast on whether members of Congress trust the president's recent actions to slap new tariffs on Wisconsin's biggest trade partners, Canada, Mexico and China. There was a similar split in opinion when it came to cuts enacted by Mr. Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), overseen by the president's billionaire special advisor, Elon Musk.

On the issue of tariffs, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Janesville) said he supported the president's plan because it would force the nation's North American neighbors to work more urgently to keep fentanyl from crossing their borders and would create a more even playing field for U.S. companies.

"These are being utilized as a tool to, at the end of the day, make trade free, fair, but also reciprocal, while we work to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, working with our partners in Canada and Mexico," Steil said Tuesday. "So, I think in the long term, we have an opportunity to bring [costs] down. I think the president is negotiating on moving forward in the best interests in the United States."

Canada, Mexico and China have all announced their own counter tariffs. In response, U.S. markets have dropped sharply this week. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wausau) noted his district has a refinery in Superior that is owned by a Canadian company.

Tiffany said his biggest trade concern was tariff wars causing energy costs to soar, but he added he had faith in the Trump administration's approach.

"You always have concerns about something like [costs increasing] but the president has made it clear," Tiffany said. "What he wants to do is reciprocal tariffs. If you tariff something we have at 25%, we're going to do the same at 25%."

"You don't want to drive up the cost of energy because that's not going to be helpful," Tiffany said. "I think the president will be real strategic about that. He knows that the cost of energy has to come down in order for the cost of living to come down."

Democrats, on the other hand, have cast doubt on the president's trade strategy. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) said he believed the cost of escalating tariffs would ultimately be borne by Wisconsin producers who have a harder time finding a market for their exports.

"Goods that we're sending to other countries are gonna be affected," he said. "Things we buy are gonna be affected, and it's gonna have a negative effect on the economy in Wisconsin."

Pocan brought a farmer from northwest Wisconsin as his guest to President Trump's address. Emmet Fisher, who owns Oxheart Farms in Hager City with his wife, said two federal grants he'd been awarded are currently frozen.

Fisher said those grants were for installing solar panels on his barns and for committing to certain conservation practices; the latter of those grants was set to pay $30,000 over a five-year period.

"That's more than pocket change for a farm our size," Fisher said. "That's currently paused. Payment's not until November, so there's time for it to work out, but the uncertainty is pretty stressful."

A common criticism from Democrats in recent days has been congressional Republicans are laying down for the Trump administration after constantly decrying executive actions taken by former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

That criticism has specifically applied to the president's actions on fiscal matters, such as resetting trade policy through tariffs and the recent announcement the U.S. will pause aid to Ukraine after Friday's Oval Office blowup between Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"We have that authority, according to the constitution," Pocan said. "And if you give it up, well then why do you have a job? You're just sitting here collecting a paycheck, but you're not doing your job."

Steil said he was generally concerned about presidents becoming too powerful, but he added that issue is not limited to any one administration. Beyond that, he said he viewed the executive actions taken by President Trump as appropriate because they largely undo many of the initiatives championed by Democrats under former President Biden.

He specifically referred to the Biden administration's approach to the southern border and its effort to unilaterally forgive student loan debt.

"What I think we have seen is an expansion of the executive power that has occurred over generations, and so, that's a broader challenge we face as a country," Steil said. "I am far more concerned about the abuses that we saw in the Biden administration than what we are seeing, and the corrections, in particular, the positive actions to secure the U.S.-Mexico border that we've seen in this Trump administration."