A resolution to block Donald Trump’s tariffs on products from Canada was ed in the senate yesterday after a group of Republicans ed forces with Democrats to vote in favor of the new measure. 4d3f5l

Related: Adam Kinzinger roasts Elon Musk for losing ‘bigly’ after Wisconsin political stunt on The Mary Sue

NBC News reports that the votes came to 51-48 in favor of the measure with all 47 Democrats ing it along with a small handful of Republicans. Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Lis Murkowski (Alaska) defied Donald Trump and the rest of his party to vote in favor of the Democrat-led resolution.

What does this mean? 2b616h

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean Donald Trump’s current tariffs on America’s neighbour will instantly be blocked. The resolution has to through the House of Representatives now that it’s gone through the Senate. From there it would go to the president himself, although it’s highly unlikely that it will even make it through the House. Trump’s Canada tariffs and the rest of them will be going ahead despite the inevitable economic turmoil it’s going to put American citizens through.

This is still a small win 2g1r1a

Although it’s disheartening to know that blocking Trump’s insane tariff policy is unlikely right now it’s still encouraging to see of the president’s own party take a stand against him. Could this be the beginning of larger fractures between Republicans? Perhaps we’re witnessing the first few cracks as people finally begin to see sense and stop blindly following the man at the top.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Collins stated that the tariffs will be harmful, likely resulting in the cost of items going up, “as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least.” Meanwhile, Paul told reporters, “Tariffs on Canada will threaten us with a recession. I mean, it’s a terrible, terrible idea.”

McConnell also made a statement in which he warned, “Tariffs make it more expensive to do business in America.” If they can all see it, why can’t Trump and his MAGA minions?

Trump called out the Republicans directly 3k191o

Prior to the vote Donald Trump took to Truth Social to single out the four Republicans encouraging them to fall in line and reject the bill.

“Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change, and fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada.”

He went on to say that the bill was a “ploy” from Democrats to “expose the weakness of certain Republicans,” before warning that the bill would never make it through the House and even if it did he would “never sign it.”

Despite the apparent hopelessness of the situation, it seems that the actions of these four have somewhat gotten under Donald Trump’s skin. The president’s “Liberation Day” as he called it has already led to economic chaos as countries around the globe look to retaliate and potentially ignite a full on trade war.

Psychosis has edged out sanity in the United States government, which increasingly puts wealth and loyalty over experience or competence.

We’re seeing the Donald Trump effect drown our government in real time, and it’s only been intensified by the involvement of Elon Musk. Now that the Telsa CEO has successfully bought his way into a position in the Trump istration (kind of), Musk can genuinely claim a position as one of the most powerful people in the world. He’s clearly set to be the bloated bigot’s latest puppet master, and he couldn’t be more excited to quadruple his net worth while flushing our rights — and barely-functioning government — down the drain.

That could be magnified if Kentucky Senator Rand Paul gets his way, and just outright gifts Musk the keys to the kingdom. After all, how could that bite us in the behind?

Paul suggested, in mid-December, that we may as well just make Musk the Speaker of the House of Representatives and get it over with. He seems to think that handing a massively wealthy man with vested business interests all over the world a hugely important government position — without electing him — is a great idea, and he’s already drumming up from similarly sycophantic MAGAs.

“Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk,” the 61-year-old wrote on X, adding that “the Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress.”

The decision to hand an unelected, unwanted, and unqualified person such an important position would be truly insane, but in a terrifying gut punch of reality, it’s actually possible. While we’ve never elevated someone outside of Congress to the position, the Constitution does not block regular citizens from becoming Speaker. The document fails to “specify that the Speaker of the House has to be a member of the chamber,” according to Axios, which really could provide the in needed for Musk to seize the role.

This isn’t the first time someone has named a non-Congressional figure for the role, but we live in unprecedented times. Things no one thought possible happen every day in this country, and there’s no reason to doubt that Paul — and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who soon swooped in to offer her — aren’t entirely serious about injecting Musk into the House. It would be an insane decision, of course, and it would once again circumvent the will of the people, but that’s not nearly enough to stop these airheads from pursuing it.

The power Trump is about to hand to the wealthiest man in the world should scare us all. There’s a reason those with business interests are typically disallowed from certain governmental positions, but that precedent has been tossed out along with the remainder of America’s dignity. Musk’s time in the White House — because make no mistake, he’s already establishing himself as the shadow leader behind Trump — will almost certainly be defined by business deals and strange, underhanded decisions that further his wealth and that of his mega-rich buddies, while ignoring the actual issues plaguing American citizens.