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Deadline Legal Blog-Supreme Court rules Trump doesn't have the tariff authority he claimed
The justices expressed skepticism in November that the administration could impose sweeping tariffs under a federal law granting emergency powers.
Supreme Court rules Trump doesn’t have the tariff authority he claimed
— Anti-Trumpism (@forabettertomorrow.bsky.social) 2026-02-20T15:17:44.990Z
www.ms.now/deadline-whi...
https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/supreme-court-tariffs-trump-ruling
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump doesn’t have the tariff authority he claimed, in a decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.
The ruling addressed a key Donald Trump policy as the high court considers the scope of presidential power across several cases this term. The court’s Republican-appointed majority has broadly empowered the Republican president but has occasionally checked him.
The justices agreed in September to consider the tariff issue on an expedited basis, granting review in two separate cases, both of which the administration lost in the lower courts. One of them came through a specialized trade and appeals court, and the other came through a general federal court in Washington.
When the high court heard oral arguments in November, the justices sounded skeptical of the administration’s position that Trump was authorized to impose the sweeping tariffs under a federal law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).......
In the case called Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, the Federal Circuit ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in attempting to rely on IEEPA. “The statute neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the President’s power to impose tariffs,” the circuit court wrote in a divided ruling that split the court 7-4, though not strictly along the party lines of the presidents who appointed the judges.
In the other case, Learning Resources v. Trump, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee, wrote that if Congress “had intended to delegate to the President the power of taxing ordinary commerce from any country at any rate for virtually any reason, it would have had to say so.” He wrote that no other president “has ever purported to impose tariffs under IEEPA.”
The ruling addressed a key Donald Trump policy as the high court considers the scope of presidential power across several cases this term. The court’s Republican-appointed majority has broadly empowered the Republican president but has occasionally checked him.
The justices agreed in September to consider the tariff issue on an expedited basis, granting review in two separate cases, both of which the administration lost in the lower courts. One of them came through a specialized trade and appeals court, and the other came through a general federal court in Washington.
When the high court heard oral arguments in November, the justices sounded skeptical of the administration’s position that Trump was authorized to impose the sweeping tariffs under a federal law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).......
In the case called Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, the Federal Circuit ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in attempting to rely on IEEPA. “The statute neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the President’s power to impose tariffs,” the circuit court wrote in a divided ruling that split the court 7-4, though not strictly along the party lines of the presidents who appointed the judges.
In the other case, Learning Resources v. Trump, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee, wrote that if Congress “had intended to delegate to the President the power of taxing ordinary commerce from any country at any rate for virtually any reason, it would have had to say so.” He wrote that no other president “has ever purported to impose tariffs under IEEPA.”
I listened to the oral arguments and did not think that this would be that close of a decision but this is a very divided opinion which is why it took so long to come down.
Link to tweet
