Look, if this turns out to be real, this probably has terrible real-world implications that make it far less funny, but if we don’t take the time to laugh at something called the ‘FART act’, are we even human?
Political news website Axios is reporting that they got their hands on a leaked draft of the United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act, a bill that would theoretically allow Trump to sidestep Congress and World Trade Organization rules in regards to raising tariffs.
A source described Axios as “familiar with the bill” described it as “insane” and said it would never be allowed to pass:
It would be the equivalent of walking away from the WTO and our commitments there without us actually notifying our withdrawal. . . The good news is Congress would never give this authority to the president. . . It’s not implementable at the border, and it would completely remove us from the set of global trade rules.
The wording of the name is pretty tortured, which definitely seems to suggest that it spelling out FART is intentional, but who would do that, and why? A ploy from the deep state to distract people from the horrific implications of the bill? An attempt to stop the media from reporting on it because it sounds silly? A fun joke on a piece of draft legislation written up after a beer on a Friday afternoon in the office? We have no way of knowing.
You can read more about the bill here, if tariffs and international trade are, like, your whole thing.
