Overview
- The Court heard arguments on whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act allows President Trump to impose tariffs, with multiple justices signaling skepticism about reading tariff authority into the statute.
- Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barrett pressed why Congress has expressly used the word “tariff” in other laws but not in IEEPA, and Chief Justice John Roberts noted no prior president has claimed tariff power under IEEPA.
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer defended sweeping emergency discretion, drawing concern from Justice Neil Gorsuch about a “one-way ratchet” of power, including hypotheticals such as invoking climate change to justify emergency trade actions.
- Parallel fights over emergency powers continue, as federal courts have largely halted deportations under the Alien Enemies Act and blocked most National Guard deployments, with Los Angeles the lone city where an appeals court allowed troops.
- The Justice Department argues National Guard deployment decisions are not reviewable, and the Supreme Court has requested additional briefing on a related emergency petition after previously emphasizing statutory limits in cases like Biden v. Nebraska.