The Senate rejected on Wednesday a resolution from Senator Paul that would have rescinded President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, even as fears of a recession and increased inflation are on the rise. Dr. Paul says that his resolution was about more than just the cost of living, however. 

The Kentucky senator is arguably the most famous libertarian in Congress, and has long warned against the inflationary impact of import taxes. He said the resolution to repeal Mr. Trump’s April 2 emergency declaration that empowered him to impose the largest peacetime tax increase in American history was critical to Congress keeping the executive in check. 

“The Constitution clearly states that Congress, not the president, has the power of the purse. All new taxes (which is what a tariff is) are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate for approval,” Dr. Paul said Wednesday. 

The Senate was tied, 49 to 49, in its vote on Dr. Paul’s resolution to rescind the emergency declaration. Vice President Vance traveled to the Capitol to cast the deciding vote to “table,” or defeat, the resolution on Wednesday night. 

Dr. Paul teamed up with the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, Senator Wyden, to author the resolution to repeal the emergency declaration earlier this month. It had been designated as “privileged,” meaning that Senate leadership was powerless to stop it from coming to the floor. When Dr. Paul and Mr. Wyden introduced the legislation on April 8, the Kentucky lawmaker said it was “time Congress reasserts its authority and restores the balance of power.”

The repeal of the emergency declaration was likely to pass, given the support Dr. Paul won from fellow members of the GOP. If four Republicans and all Democrats had voted for the measure, it would have passed the chamber. 

Senator Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, and Senator McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who has criticized Mr. Trump’s use of tariffs, both missed the vote on Wednesday. Senators Murkowski and Collins were the only Republicans to support Dr. Paul’s measure on the floor. 

On the evening of April 2 — the same day Mr. Trump imposed his “Liberation Day” tariffs that sent markets spiraling — the Senate voted on a similar resolution from Senator Kaine that would have repealed the president’s previous emergency declaration that allowed him to implement tariffs on Canadian imports. Four Republican lawmakers — Dr. Paul, Mr. McConnell, Ms. Murkowski, and Ms. Collins — all voted for Mr. Kaine’s resolution. The House has yet to take it up. 

Senator Moran of Kansas is another lawmaker to watch in this tariff fight, though he voted for neither Mr. Kaine’s resolution nor Dr. Paul’s resolution. In early April, Mr. Moran endorsed a bill from Senator Grassley that would have required Congress to vote on approving any new tariffs. If the legislative branch did not pass a resolution of approval within 60 days, then the tariffs would automatically expire. 

“The Constitution gives Congress the authority to make decisions regarding foreign commerce, including tariffs,” Mr. Moran said of Mr. Grassley’s bill at the time. “This legislation allows the president to use tariffs to respond to emergencies while permitting Congress to weigh the appropriateness of any tariffs that are imposed.” Mr. Moran previously told Politico that he was trying to work with the administration to limit tariffs in such a way in order to protect Kansas’s agriculture sector. 

Had the Paul–Wyden resolution passed the Senate, it likely would have died in the House. Only one Republican lawmaker, Congressman Don Bacon, has been outspoken about the devastating impact the tariffs will have on his Nebraska district. Speaker Johnson has said that Mr. Trump, having won the election, deserves the opportunity to try to use these new import taxes to both negotiate with foreign countries and to try to reshore American industry. 

The other barrier to the House passing any kind of resolution repealing Mr. Trump’s tariffs is a little-noticed rule change Mr. Johnson tucked into a funding bill back in March. As part of a Republican-led bill to keep the federal government open, Mr. Johnson included a section that stated no lawmaker in the House may bring up a privileged resolution to rescind the president’s national emergency declaration, meaning that the only way to bring a bill to the floor without Republican leadership’s support would be to garner 218 signatures on a discharge petition to force a vote, though that would take months to complete based on the timeline set by House rules. 

The economic outlook for America in the next few years has dimmed significantly in the last month since Mr. Trump’s tariffs took effect. On Wednesday, it was announced that for the first time in three years, America’s economy had contracted by 0.3 percent, leading to further predictions of a recession that could come later this year. 

Even before the economic contraction was announced Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive Jamie Dimon told Fox News in mid-April that a recession this year was a “likely outcome” of the tariffs and the market turmoil.