What if you could prolong today to avoid making an uncomfortable decision tomorrow?

For most human beings, that’s not possible. But in the alternate reality that is Congress, which operates according to its own arcane rules and precedents and is exempt from the statutes that bind the rest of us, a day can be as long or short as the laws of political gravity demand.

That is how it came to pass that House Republicans in recent weeks declared the rest of the year one long day when it came to considering a challenge to President Trump’s tariffs. They would prefer to avoid votes on whether to scrap the levies, but the law says the House must consider them within a set period of time.

The obvious solution? Stop time.

It was hardly the first time congressional leaders have meddled with the laws of the universe for the sake of political expediency. By bending legislative time, House and Senate leaders have long found ways to buy themselves wiggle room for negotiation, preserve their prerogatives and shield their members from votes they would rather not have to cast.

Four years ago, Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker, kept the House in recess overnight rather than adjourning to stretch a single “legislative day” across two calendar days. The move allowed her to claim she had kept a promise that she had made to moderate Democrats that she would hold a vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill by the end of the month.

Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent efforts to freeze time have been more conspicuous — and longer lasting. Last month, he quietly pushed through a provision that contained a calendar gimmick ensuring that no lawmaker could force a vote this year to end Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico. He used the same trick on Wednesday to head off a vote until at least October on the global tariffs Mr. Trump announced last week and then partially paused.

The first measure stated that “each day for the remainder of the 119th Congress shall not constitute a calendar day” for the purposes of the emergency Mr. Trump declared on Feb. 1 to impose the tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico. The resolution approved on Wednesday used the same language to stop any member from forcing a vote on the rest of Mr. Trump’s tariffs through Sept. 30.

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