by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Most people to understand a “day” to constitute a 24-hour period of time. They understand that the term “work days” generally exclude weekends and holidays. Furthermore, for those that follow government and politics, “legislative days” is understood to mean those days in which the legislature is in session. Notwithstanding those commonly accepted definitions, Virginia’s Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to consider the period between Feb. 10 and July 31 as one day.

Last year, President Trump invoked International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose some of his tariffs last year under the National Emergencies Act. As reported by the New York Times, “that law allows any member of the House to challenge an emergency by introducing a resolution that must receive a vote after 15 days.” A Democrat introduced such a resolution, but the Republican leadership in the House has delayed consideration of it several times by redefining what constitutes a day.

The last such delay expired on Jan. 31. This week, the leadership included a provision on a rule regarding unrelated legislation, that would count the period between Feb. 10 and July 31 as one legislative day, thereby extending the delay further. Three Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in defeating the measure. No Virginian Republican was included in that dissenting group.

As a result, Republican Reps. Kiggans, Wittman, McGuire, Cline, and Griffith soon will have to vote on a resolution to end Trump’s tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Some of the Virginians most affected by these tariffs are farmers and small manufacturers in the rural areas represented by these legislators who are highly dependent on fertilizer and other raw materials from Canada.