Trump to hold news conference in wake of Supreme Court tariff decision

The Supreme Court’s decision crossed ideological lines, with three conservative justices and the court’s three liberals forming a majority to strike down the president’s tariffs:

The majority itself was split, however, with the liberals and conservatives disagreeing about why the tariffs should be struck down. 

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett said the tariffs fail to meet the standard set under the “major questions doctrine,” which states broad assertions of power claimed by the executive branch on issues of political or economic significance must be clearly authorized by Congress. 

Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson — the three liberals — said that ordinary interpretation of the statute was enough to strike down the tariffs.

The ruling came down while the president was meeting with the nation’s governors at the White House. 

Mr. Trump was handed a note while speaking, and announced the tariff decision to the room, according to a governor who was present. He called the decision a “disgrace” and left, the governor said.

The Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. The Supreme Court divided 6-3, with Chief Justice John Roberts delivering the opinion for the court. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

“IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties. The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word ‘regulate’ to authorize taxation. And until now no President has read IEEPA to confer such power,” Roberts wrote in a portion of the decision joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. “We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”

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