Increasing taxes on Americans will not end Putin’s war in Ukraine.

The drafters of this legislation, understandably, wish to punish Vladimir Putin and send the Russian invaders back to where they came from.

But this bill was written such that the drafters fail to see that it will not bring peace to Ukraine, but rather will deliberately make American families poorer by increasing tariffs, which are nothing but taxes on imported goods.

To save Americans from what very well could be the largest tax increase imposed by a Republican Congress, I offer an amendment that strikes the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on an ever-changing list of countries. Congress should not delegate its constitutional duties to the Executive so shamelessly.

My amendment does not touch the broad sanctions authority provided by the bill, nor does it touch the 500 percent tariffs on Russia, because I see a strong desire among other members of the Senate to use economic warfare against Putin.

But once upon a time Republicans were distinguished from Democrats by their persistent chant that the U.S. deficit was the result of a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Yet, today, many Republicans have become cheerleaders for more revenue.

The bill before us grants the Executive Branch the power to raise nearly $500 billion dollars in revenue. I hope I am not the only Republican left in Congress who is horrified by a bill that proposes to raise taxes by half a trillion dollars.

In addition, there is that “little” constitutional issue. Can Congress delegate its Article 1 Section 8 authority to lay taxes and levies to the Executive Branch?

The answer to that question is unequivocally no.

Embedded within our Constitution is the non-delegation principle, which states that Congress cannot delegate its core legislative powers to other branches of government or private entities. The Supreme Court used to enforce the non-delegation doctrine, most notably in the Schechter Poultry case. But that case was decided in 1935, and for much of the time that has elapsed since then, the Supreme Court has been a reliable ally of lazy legislators. Up until recently, the Supreme Court effectively relieved Congress from the hard work of legislating.

But the tide is turning with the help of President Trump’s nominees. Justice Gorsuch forcefully made the case for reviving the nondelegation principle by arguing that if Congress “could pass off its legislative power to the executive branch … legislation would risk........

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