Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed Friday that Democrats “will force votes” on President Trump’s tariffs after a disappointing August jobs report showed just 22,000 jobs added and unemployment rising to 4.3%.
Schumer called the report “worse than the already low expectations,” adding the numbers are a “blaring red light warning to the entire country that Donald Trump is squeezing the life out of our economy.”
“Donald Trump’s chaotic tariffs, failed policies, and fake trade deals have slowed job growth and continually raised prices on American families. The pressure is pushing working families closer to the breaking point,” Schumer said, per The Hill.
“Hiring is down, prices are up, and families are paying thousands more a year because of Donald Trump’s tariffs,” Schumer continued. “The pain America is experiencing will only worsen as Republicans ignore the warning and continue cowering to Donald Trump. The first step is to admit the truth that Donald Trump’s economic experiment has failed and reverse course.”
“In the coming weeks, Senate Democrats will force votes to reverse Donald Trump’s damaging tariffs and we will see whose side Republicans are on,” he added. “I hope Republicans will choose wisely.”
The Hill reported that economists, generally speaking, were anticipating some 75,000 new jobs.
Senate Democrats have had limited success in challenging Trump’s sweeping tariffs since he rolled them out early in his term. In April, the chamber passed a non-binding resolution to end the trade dispute with Canada, with four Republicans joining Democrats in support.
Later that month, Democrats fell short in a bid to overturn Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs after attendance problems left them without the votes to advance.
Friday’s release was also the first jobs report since Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Director Erika McEntarfer, following July’s report that included steep downward revisions.
That said, the White House noted this week that Trump’s tariffs are bringing in record revenue for the U.S. government.
“In August, tariff revenues topped $31 billion — bringing the total to $158 billion this calendar year, or more than 2.5 times the revenue this time last year,” said a White House press release.
“Even the left-wing Congressional Budget Office admits President Trump’s tariffs will reduce total deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade,” it added.
Separately, the White House claimed that more than half a million new jobs have been created since he took office, all from the private sector.
“Employment for native-born Americans has grown by 2.4+ million since January, accounting for ALL net job gains in President Trump’s second term,” said another release. “The Trump Administration is slashing job-killing regulations by reducing penalties on small businesses and eliminating ten regulations for every single new regulation created — empowering employers to grow and create good jobs.”
It added: “Sentiment for small businesses, which employ nearly half of American workers, is at a five-month high.”
Trump’s America First trade policy has spurred more than $8 trillion in new U.S. investment as companies move manufacturing and production back home, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, the White House has also noted.
The administration says Trump has secured trade deals with major partners covering over half of global GDP, generating hundreds of billions in new revenue and aiming to level the playing field for American workers.
Wages for blue-collar workers are up 1.4% over the past year through the first seven months of Trump’s second term — the second-fastest start-of-term increase on record, the administration also said.
“After housing costs soared as the Biden let millions of illegal immigrants into the country, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has fallen to a ten-month low,” said a release. “Americans traveling by car for Labor Day weekend are seeing the lowest gas prices in at least five years, while domestic airfares have also fallen to five-year lows.”