RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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House Democrats are planning legislation to counteract the executive order President Trump signed Thursday re-designating Lake Ontario as "Lake America," Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Democrats are scrambling to contain the fallout from an escalating economic conflict between the Trump administration and the Canadian government.
The collapse of trade talks between the two countries last week triggered 50% tariffs on a slew of Canadian goods, to which Canada has vowed to respond in kind.
Driving the news: Democratic Rep. Tim Kennedy, an upstate New Yorker who co-chairs the bipartisan Northern Border Caucus, told Axios in a text message he is "working on a bill" to respond to Trump's order.
Kennedy is one of numerous Democrats who have denounced the renaming, saying in a statement it is evidence that Trump is a "petty, vindictive, failed president."
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), the chair of House Democrats' messaging arm, also slammed the order, saying in a radio interview on Thursday: "I think it's absolutely insane, and I deeply resent it."
Catch up quick: The executive order Trump signed directs the Interior Department to update the Geographic Names Information System within 30 days to reflect the name change.
"In recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation's economy and its people, I am directing that the Lake officially be renamed as Lake America," the order said.
Trump has previously ordered the federal government to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," though it remains unclear if he has the power to rename a body of water shared by multiple countries.
Canadian officials have said they will not honor the name change.
Reality check: With Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, Democrats will likely have trouble even securing a chance to vote on their legislation.
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