Overview
- The nearly three-hour argument on Wednesday examined if the International Emergency Economic Powers Act can be used to impose a 10% global tariff and higher reciprocal tariffs on roughly 50 countries.
- The Court’s questioning focused on statutory scope and guardrails on executive authority rather than the tariffs’ economic effects.
- Plaintiffs argued IEEPA has not been used for tariffs in its 50-year history and warned that allowing it would significantly expand presidential power over trade.
- President Trump did not attend the hearing after saying he did not want to distract from the proceedings.
- Comedian John Mulaney watched from the public gallery and posted “Cheap seats but a great show” on X, as high-profile attendees including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Ed Markey, and Meta’s Joel Kaplan also observed; Mulaney is collaborating with plaintiffs’ attorney Neal Katyal on a Supreme Court-themed TV project.