As a member of Congress, Republican US Rep. Rob Wittman has voted in support of President Donald Trump’s tariffs that are making life more expensive for Virginians.
Wittman voted Feb. 11 against ending the national emergency Trump declared to impose tariffs on goods from Canada.
The measure ultimately passed in a 219-to-211 vote with six Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in backing it. But the vote was largely symbolic. An expanded tariffs regime remains in place.
It wasn’t the first time Wittman voted to protect Trump’s messy and costly trade policy. In March 2025, Wittman backed a measure that helped block Democrats from forcing a vote on resolutions to end tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
And in Sept. 2025, Wittman supported a measure that effectively blocked challenges to Trump’s global tariff declarations.
What do tariffs cost you?
Trump’s tariffs have pushed up the cost of living. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently found that for every percentage point increase in average tariffs, consumer goods prices increase by about a quarter of a percent after one year.
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates that Trump’s tariffs will cost households $920 in 2026. The Tax Foundation estimates that Trump’s tariffs increased taxes by an average of $1,000 per US household in 2025 before a February US Supreme Court ruling that struck down some of the tariffs. The Tax Foundation estimates that for 2026 tariffs will increase taxes by an average of $820 per US household.
Tariffs have made it more expensive to build homes at a time when lack of supply is fueling a national housing crisis that’s also playing out in Virginia. Trump’s tariffs have also hurt farmers by reducing agricultural exports as a result of retaliatory tariffs from China and Canada.
As inflation has proven stubbornly high, the high cost of living is among the top issues for voters this fall. The Associated Press reports that 65% of US adults blame Trump policies for persistently high costs, “signaling growing weariness over his aggressive use of tariffs.”
That may help explain why Wittman is facing a tougher re-election fight in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District than was expected. A recent Washington Post-Schar School poll found his opponent, Democrat Shannon Taylor, is preferred by 50% of likely voters, compared with 46% for Wittman.
Wittman recently told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that “tariffs can be an important tool” and that he “supported targeted tariffs.”
Wittman did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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