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SCOTUStoday for Monday, February 23
Happy Monday! Although we here at SCOTUSblog are still recovering from a busy Friday analyzing the tariffs ruling, we have to turn our attention to the February argument session. It begins today with oral arguments on confiscations by the Cuban government.
Today is also the debut of SCOTUStoday’s new look. We’re bringing you the same great content in what we believe is a more engaging format. As always, please send any feedback to scotusblog@thedispatch.com.
At the Court
Friday morning, the court released its opinion in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, holding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. For more on the ruling, see, well, the rest of this newsletter.
Also on Friday, the justices met in a private conference to discuss cases and vote on petitions for review. Orders from that conference are expected this morning at 9:30 a.m. EST. Amy will be writing on any notable decisions by the justices.
This morning, the court will hear arguments in two cases brought by U.S. businesses that are seeking to recover losses they suffered when Cuba’s communist government came to power and seized their assets more than 65 years ago. The cases are Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises and Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación Cimex, S.A.
The court has indicated that it may announce opinions tomorrow and Wednesday. We will be live blogging both days beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST.
Tomorrow, the court will also hear argument in Enbridge Energy, LP v. Nessel, on whether district courts are authorized to extend the 30-day deadline for a defendant to move to remove a case to federal court.
Morning Reads
The Moment Trump Found Out the Supreme Court Killed His Tariffs
Ken Thomas and Josh Dawsey, The Wall Street Journal
President Donald Trump was in “a closed-door White House meeting with governors” when the Supreme Court handed down its ruling on tariffs. One of Trump’s trade advisers alerted the president by handing him a note. “So it’s a loss, then?” Trump responded, according to meeting participants who spoke with The Wall Street Journal. “Trump told the governors sitting before him in the State Dining Room that he looked calm but was seething inside, calling the ruling a disgrace, the people said.” Trump then “cut short a question-and-answer session, leaving the meeting early so he could work on his response to the ruling.”
'Everyone here is irate': White House scrambles after tariff loss as Trump unloads on Supreme Court
Jonathan Allen, Matt Dixon, Katherine Doyle, and Allan Smith, NBC News
About three hours after the court announced its decision, Trump held a news conference and spoke about the ruling and his plan to reimpose tariffs. “The good news is that there are methods, practices, statutes and authorities, as recognized by the entire court in this terrible decision, and also as recognized by Congress” that are “available to me as president of the United States,” Trump said, according to NBC News. “Specifically, Trump said that he would, in the next few days, put in place a temporary 10% global tariff on all imports under” a separate law, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. “If Congress does not act to extend that tariff within 150 days of its implementation, it expires.” Trump repeatedly “praised Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who voted in the minority to leave his tariffs in place.”
Trump says he will raise global tariffs to 15% after Supreme Court decision
Lucia I Suarez Sang and Joe Walsh, CBS News
On Saturday, the president said “that he is going to raise his global tariff to 15%,” not 10%, as he’d announced on Friday, according to CBS News. “Mr. Trump said in a social media post that he was making the decision ‘Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday.’” In a different post, he again praised Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito. “There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that they want to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump wrote.
Trump has other tariff options after Supreme Court strikes down his worldwide import taxes
Paul Wiseman, Associated Press
Friday’s ruling is not expected to end the debate over the president’s authority to impose tariffs. Instead, it will shift the attention to other laws, as the Trump administration uses statutes such as Section 122 to attempt to rebuild the system of tariffs that the court struck down. However, many of these statutes put restrictions on the president’s tariff power, by, for example, requiring an investigation and public hearing on the potential tariff and imposing time limits, according to the Associated Press. Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, after an investigation and potential hearing by the administration’s trade representative, the president can impose tariffs against countries the U.S. “accuses of engaging in ‘unjustifiable,’ ‘unreasonable’ or ‘discriminatory’ trade practices,” which “expire after four years but can be extended.” Under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the president can “impose tariffs on imports that he deems a threat to national security,” after an investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Hoping for a tariff refund? Trump officials say they are waiting for lower courts to provide instructions. ‘They created the situation’
Jason Ma, Fortune
During a Sunday appearance on Fox News, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer addressed the ruling and the administration’s plan for tariff refunds. “[I]t’s a matter for the courts,” Greer said, according to Fortune. “They created the situation, and we’ll follow whatever they say to do.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also deferred to the lower courts during an interview Sunday on CNN. “I’m not going to get out ahead of the court,” Bessent said. “We will follow the court’s direction. But as I said that could be weeks or months away.” Fortune noted that “[m]ore than $130 billion in revenue collected under the IEEPA tariffs is at stake.”
Is This the Most Important Supreme Court Case of the Century?
David French, The New York Times
In a column on Friday’s ruling for The New York Times, David French explained why he believes “it may prove to be the most important Supreme Court decision this century.” He contended that “it may help restore faith in how courts make decisions” by showing that the Supreme Court is willing to stand up to the Trump administration and also may reduce the sort of “presidential power grab[s]” that have become a common part of American politics by telling the president not to “us[e] broad and vague language in federal statutes as a pretext for engaging in lawmaking in place of Congress.”
On Site
Opinion Analysis
Supreme Court strikes down tariffs
In a major ruling on presidential power, the Supreme Court struck down the sweeping tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed in a series of executive orders by a vote of 6-3.
Case Preview
Justices to consider constitutionality of tax foreclosure sales
On Wednesday, the court will hear argument in Pung v. Isabella County, which asks the court to consider the constitutionality of the longstanding practice of tax foreclosures sales. Ronald Mann described it as "one of those cases that would be tremendously important if it came out one way and will probably sink without a trace if it comes out the other."
Contributor Corner
A breakdown of the court’s tariff decision
In his Empirical SCOTUS column, Adam Feldman broke down the Supreme Court’s tariffs ruling, examining the principal opinion and the six concurrences and dissents, and assessing whether the predictions he made earlier this month about how the court would rule came true.
View from the Court
Watching tariffs come down
In his View from the Court column, Mark Walsh described what he saw and heard in the courtroom on Friday as the Supreme Court announced its tariffs ruling.
A Closer Look:
Coverage of the Tariffs Ruling
Friday’s ruling on tariffs prompted a tidal wave of coverage, including columns on the significance of the justices’ decision, explainers on how Trump could reimpose his tariffs, and roundups of reactions from lawmakers and business owners. Most, if not all, news outlets posted a story aimed at summarizing the decision, and, as we often do after a notable event at the court, we put together an overview of those headlines that we think best captured the public discourse. These ranged from the straightforward to the explanatory to the more editorial.
The New York Times: Justices Strike Down Trump’s Tariffs
Associated Press: Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, sparking fierce pushback and vow of new levies
NBC News: Supreme Court strikes down most of Trump’s tariffs in a major blow to the president
Courthouse News Service: Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s one-man tariff war
The Guardian: Trump illegally used executive power to impose global tariffs, supreme court rules
Fox News: Supreme Court blocks Trump tariffs in major test of executive branch powers
The Washington Examiner: Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs
Vox: Why a Republican Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs
The Atlantic: How the Supreme Court Spared America
There was a bit more variety in the headlines attached to follow-up stories about how Trump reacted (likely because the president gave reporters and editors some colorful quotes to choose from).
Politico: Trump attacks Supreme Court justices after he is handed a major tariff loss
The Washington Times: Trump rips justices’ tariffs ruling, says he’ll use other authorities to impose 10% global tariff
NBC News: Trump calls Supreme Court justices ‘disloyal to the Constitution’ over tariffs ruling
Axios: Trump “absolutely ashamed” of SCOTUS for tariffs ruling
CBS News: Trump lashes out at his own Supreme Court picks over tariff ruling: “An embarrassment to their families”
SCOTUS Quote
“For those who think it important for the Nation to impose more tariffs, I understand that today’s decision will be disappointing. All I can offer them is that most major decisions affecting the rights and responsibilities of the American people (including the duty to pay taxes and tariffs) are funneled through the legislative process for a reason.”
— Justice Neil Gorsuch in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump
The post SCOTUStoday for Monday, February 23 appeared first on SCOTUSblog.