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Feb. 12 (UPI) — In a rare rebuke of the Trump administration, the Republican-led House on Wednesday moved to block sweeping tariffs imposed on Canada by President Donald Trump.

In a 219-211 vote on Wednesday evening, House lawmakers approved legislation terminating a national emergency Trump declared early in his administration to slap tariffs on the United States’ northern neighbor.

Six Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues to pass the legislation into an uncertain future in the Senate. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted against terminating the emergency.

The legislation, however, could end up being only symbolic. Even if the GOP-led majority approves it, President Donald Trump would be expected to veto it.

Even as the resolution faces an uncertain future, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and sponsor of H.J.Res.72, said Democrats, joined by several GOP lawmakers, forced the measure to the floor to put Republicans on record.

“The question was simple: stand with working families and lower costs, or keep prices high out of loyalty to Donald Trump?” Meeks, who has argued the tariffs have increased household costs, said in a statement following the vote.

“House Democrats will continue fighting to lower costs, even if most Republicans won’t.”

Tariffs have been a mechanism central to Trump’s trade and foreign policy, using economic measures to right what he sees as improper trade relations and to penalize nations he feels are doing him and the United States wrong.

On Feb. 1, Trump declared a national emergency with respect to Canada over drugs entering the United States across their shared border, alleging Ottawa was “failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with the United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs.”

Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Trump imposed a sweeping 25% tariff on most Canadian goods and a 10% duty on Canadian energy products.

The tariffs have kicked off a trade war with Canada and have begun fraying the United States’ relations with Ottawa, which, in the months since, has sought to lessen its dependency on Washington.

Premier Doug Ford of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, on Wednesday night thanked the members of Congress who voted to terminate the emergency declaration, saying they “stood up in support of free trade and economic growth between our two great countries.”

“An important victory with more work ahead,” he said in a social media statement.

“Let’s end the tariffs and together build a more prosperous and secure future.”

Trump lashed out against House and Senate Republicans on Wednesday, warning that those who vote against his tariffs “will suffer the consequences come Election time,” suggesting that he could interfere with their chances of winning their next primary.

The president argued in a post on his Truth Social platform that tariffs improve the United States’ economic and national security “because the mere mention of the word has Countries agreeing to our strongest wishes.”

“Tariffs have given us Economic and National Security, and no Republican should be responsible for destroying this privilege,” he said. In a second post, Trump said Canada was taking advantage of the United States without providing proof, calling Ottawa “the worst in the World to deal with.”

“TARIFFS make a WIN for us, EASY,” he said. “Republicans must keep it that way!”

Democrats have criticized Trump’s tariffs since they were announced, and now point to economists’ estimates that say the measures — including those imposed against Canada — have increased household costs.

According to the Budget Lab at Yale University, income loss due to Trump’s tariffs, including those imposed on Canada, amounted to about $1,700 per American household last year. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation said the tariffs amount to an average tax increase per U.S. household of $1,000 in 2025 and $1,300 this year.

Though estimates vary, economists generally agree that the tariffs have raised costs for American households.

The U.S.-Canada relationship has greatly degraded during Trump’s second term. Threats to make Canada the United States’ 51st state, his imposition of tariffs and the shifting right of Washington’s foreign and domestic policies have prompted officials in Ottawa to look elsewhere for stable economic partnerships.

Last month, Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canadian imports in response to Canada seeking to forge a new trade deal with China.

Last October, the U.S. Senate passed a similar resolution to end the emergency declaration related to Canada, but the GOP-led House did not take it up before the end of the congressional session.

In the courts, the legality of Trump’s tariffs is being challenged by multiple lawsuits, with opponents, including states and companies, arguing that the president exceeded his authority in imposing the taxes, which historically are Congress’ responsibility as holder of the purse.

An amnesty law that would provide clemency to political prisoners in Venezuela has passed an initial vote unanimously in the National Assembly, stirring hopes among the country’s opposition.

On Thursday, members of both the governing socialist party and the opposition delivered speeches in favour of the new legislation, known as the Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence.

“The path of this law is going to be full of obstacles, full of bitter moments,” said Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the National Assembly.

But he added that it would be necessary to “swallow hard” in order to help the country move forward.

“We ask for forgiveness, and we also have to forgive,” Rodriguez said.

But critics nevertheless pointed out that the text of the bill has yet to be made public, and it offers no clemency for individuals accused of serious crimes, including drug trafficking, murder, corruption or human rights violations.

Instead, media reports about the legislation indicate that it focuses on charges often levelled against protesters and opposition leaders.

What does the bill say?

The bill would grant amnesty to individuals accused of crimes like treason, terrorism, rebellion, resisting authorities, instigation of illegal activities, and spreading hate, if those crimes were committed in the context of political activism or protest.

Opposition leaders like Maria Corina Machado would also see bans on their candidacy for public office lifted.

In addition, the legislation specifies certain events that would qualify for amnesty, including the demonstrations that unfolded in 2007, 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2024.

That period stretches from the presidency of the late President Hugo Chavez, founder of the “chavismo” movement, through the presidency of his handpicked successor, Nicolas Maduro.

Both Chavez and Maduro were accused of the violent suppression of dissent, through arbitrary arrest, torture and extrajudicial killings.

But on January 3, the administration of United States President Donald Trump launched a military operation in Venezuela to abduct Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They have since been transported to New York City, where they await trial on charges related to drug trafficking.

While members of Venezuela’s opposition have cheered the military operation as a long overdue move, experts have argued that the US likely violated international law as well as Venezuela’s sovereignty in removing Maduro from power.

Weighing Maduro’s legacy

Images of Chavez were a common sight during Thursday’s debate at the National Assembly, which has been dominated since 2017 by members of the chavismo movement.

That year, Venezuela’s top court dissolved the opposition-led National Assembly and briefly absorbed its powers, before re-establishing a legislature stacked with Maduro supporters.

In 2018 and again in 2024, Maduro claimed victory in contested elections that critics say were marred by fraud.

In the July 2024 vote, for instance, the government refused to release voter tallies, as was previously standard practice. The opposition, however, obtained copies of nearly 80 percent of the tallies, which contradicted the government’s claims that Maduro had won a third six-year term.

After Maduro’s abduction last month, the remnants of his government remained in power.

Within days, his vice president — Delcy Rodriguez, the sister of the National Assembly leader — was sworn in as interim president.

She used her inaugural speech to denounce the “kidnapping of two heroes who are being held hostage: President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores”.

Rodriguez has nevertheless cooperated with US demands, including by supporting a bill to open Venezuela’s nationalised oil industry to foreign investment.

On the floor of the National Assembly on Thursday, her brother Jorge raised a photo of Chavez holding a crucifix while he spoke. Maduro’s son, National Assembly member Nicolas Maduro Guerra, also presented remarks.

“Venezuela cannot endure any more acts of revenge,” Maduro Guerra said as he appealed for “reconciliation”.

Venezuela’s opposition reacts

Still, opposition members in the National Assembly expressed optimism about the bill.

National Assembly representative Tomas Guanipa, for instance, called it the start of a “new, historic chapter” in Venezuelan history, one where political dissidents would no longer be “afraid to speak their minds for fear of being imprisoned”.

Nearly 7.9 million Venezuelans have left the country in recent decades, fleeing political persecution and economic instability.

But there have been lingering concerns about the human rights situation in Venezuela in the weeks following Maduro’s abduction — and whether it is safe to return home.

President Rodriguez has pledged to release political detainees and close the infamous prison El Helicoide, where reports of torture have emerged. But some experts say the number of people released does not match the number the government has reported.

The human rights group Foro Penal, for instance, has documented 383 releases since January 8.

That figure, however, is lower than the 900 political prisoners the government has claimed to have released. Foro Penal estimates 680 political prisoners remain in detention.

Opposition figures also allege that the government continues to intimidate and harass those who voice sympathy for Maduro’s removal and other opinions that run contrary to the chavismo movement.

Still, the head of Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, applauded the initial passage of the amnesty law as a step forward.

“Amnesty is the framework that will ensure… that the past does not serve to halt or derail transition processes,” Romero told the news agency AFP.

A second vote is expected to be held on Tuesday next week.

New budget includes a $7.6m military spending increase and aims to cut the deficit to 5 percent by the end of 2026.

France has passed a budget for 2026 after two no-confidence motions failed, allowing the legislation to pass and potentially heralding a period of relative stability for Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s weak minority government.

The budget, adopted on Monday after four months of political deadlock over government spending, includes measures to bring France’s deficit down and boost military spending.

“France finally has a budget,” Lecornu said in a post on X. “A budget that makes clear choices and addresses essential priorities. A budget that contains public spending and does not raise taxes for households and businesses.”

Motions tabled by France Unbowed, the Greens and other left-wing groups drew 260 of the 289 votes needed to oust the government. The far-right motion secured only 135 votes.

Budget negotiations have consumed the French political class for nearly two years, after President Emmanuel Macron’s 2024 snap election delivered a ⁠hung parliament just as a massive hole in public finances made belt-tightening more urgent.

The budget talks have cost two prime ​ministers their jobs, unsettled debt markets and alarmed France’s European partners.

However, Lecornu – whose chaotic two-stage nomination in October ‍drew derision around the world – managed to secure the support of Socialist lawmakers through costly but targeted concessions.

Reducing the deficit

France is under pressure from the European Union to rein in its debt-to-GDP ratio – the bloc’s third-highest after Greece and Italy – which is close to twice the EU’s 60-percent ceiling.

The bill aims to cut France’s deficit to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 from 5.4 percent in 2025, after the government eased back from an earlier target of 4.7 percent.

The budget includes higher taxes on some businesses, expected to bring in about 7.3 billion euros ($8.6bn) in 2026, though the Socialists failed to secure backing for a proposed wealth tax on the superrich.

It also boosts military spending by 6.5 billion euros ($7.7m), a move the premier last week described as the “heart” of the budget.

The Socialists did, however, win several sought-after measures, including a one-euro meal for students and an increase in a top-up payment for low-income workers.

SACRAMENTO — Two of the top Democratic candidates in the race for California governor are taking heat for their past votes to fund and support federal immigration enforcement as the backlash against the Trump administration’s actions in Minnesota intensifies after the shooting death of Alex Pretti.

Fellow Democratic candidates are criticizing Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Rep. Katie Porter for voting — in Swalwell’s case, as recently as June — to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and support its agents’ work.

Swalwell (D-Dublin) last year voted in favor of a Republican-sponsored resolution condemning an attack that injured at least eight people demonstrating in support of Israeli hostages, one of whom later died, in Boulder, Colo., and expressing “gratitude to law enforcement officers, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, for protecting the homeland.”

He was one of 75 Democrats, including nine from California, to cross the aisle and vote in favor of the resolution.

“The fact that Eric Swalwell stood with MAGA Republicans in Washington to thank ICE while in California masked ICE agents terrorized our communities — despite Swalwell’s notorious and chronic record of absenteeism from Congress, is shamefully hypocritical,” former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a rival Democrat running for governor, said in a statement.

Swalwell’s campaign dismissed the attack as a “political ploy” by “a desperate campaign” polling in single-digits.

“What Eric voted for was a resolution to condemn a horrific antisemitic attack in Boulder, CO that killed Karen Diamond, an 82-year old grandmother,” a campaign spokesman said in a statement. “The truth is no one has been more critical of ICE than Eric Swalwell.”

The exchange comes as Villaraigosa, Swalwell and other Democrats running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is serving his final year in office, struggle to differentiate themselves in a tight race that lacks a clear front-runner.

In a poll released in December by the Public Policy Institute of California, Porter led the field with support from 21% of likely California voters. She was slightly ahead of former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and conservative commentator Steve Hilton but had far from a commanding lead.

With the June 2 primary election fast approaching, the sparring among the candidates — especially in the crowded field of Democrats — is expected to intensify, with those leading in the polls fielding the brunt of the attacks.

The Trump administration’s immigration tactics face mounting political scrutiny after federal agents fatally shot Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse from Minneapolis, during a protest over the weekend.

Pretti was the second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis to be killed by immigration officers in recent weeks. Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, was shot in the head by an ICE officer Jan. 7. Federal officials have alleged it was an act of self-defense when Good drove her vehicle toward an officer — an assertion under dispute.

In recent days, Swalwell said that if elected, he would revoke the driver licenses of ICE agents who mask their faces, block them from state employment and aggressively prosecute agents for crimes such as kidnapping, assault and murder.

Tony Thurmond, another Democrat currently serving as California’s top education official, in an online political ad criticized Swalwell’s vote as well as several by Porter for bills to fund ICE and Trump’s border wall during the president’s first term.

Porter and Swalwell joined majorities of Democratic House members to support various spending packages in Congress, which included billions for a border wall and in at least one case, avoided a government shutdown.

“When others have stayed quiet, Katie has boldly spoken out against ICE’s lawlessness and demanded accountability,” said Porter campaign spokesman Peter Opitz.

Thurmond’s video touted his own background as a child of immigrants and support for a new law that attempts to keep federal immigration agents out of schools, hospitals and other spaces.

Tom Steyer, a billionaire Democrat also running for governor, said Tuesday that he supports abolishing ICE “as it exists today” and replacing it with a “lawful, accountable immigration system rooted in due process and public safety.”

Republicans blame Democrats and protesters

The two most formidable Republicans running for governor have generally supported Trump’s immigration strategy but have not commented directly on Pretti’s killing over the weekend.

Hilton, a former Fox News host, wrote in an email that “every sane person is horrified by the scenes of chaos and lawlessness in Minneapolis, and most of all that people are getting killed.”

But he linked violence to sanctuary policies in Democratic-run states and cities, including California, which prohibit local law enforcement from coordinating or assisting with federal immigration enforcement.

“The only places we’ve seen this kind of chaos are ‘sanctuary’ cities and states, where Democrat politicians are whipping people up into a frenzy of anti-law enforcement hate, and directly putting their constituents in harm’s way by telling them — from behind the safety of their own security details — to disrupt the enforcement of federal law,” Hilton said.

The conservative pundit said the “worst offender” is Newsom, whom Hilton accused of using “disgustingly inflammatory language designed to rile up his base in pursuit of his presidential ambitions.”

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s campaign did not respond to questions about events in Minnesota. Bianco has repeatedly criticized California’s sanctuary state policy but affirmed last year that his department would not assist with federal immigration raids.

On Sunday, Bianco posted on X that “Celebrities and talking heads think they understand what it’s like to put on a uniform and make life or death decisions,” an apparent reference to the encounter that resulted in Pretti’s death.