Trumps illegal tariffs are again declared illegal

Trumps illegal tariffs are again declared illegal

Trumps illegal tariffs have just been ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. The only surprise is that the ruling was not unanimous with Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh dissenting saying “interpreting IEEPA to exclude tariffs creates nonsensical textual and practical anomalies.” I presume that this is English and although I know the meaning of each word, I haven’t a clue as to what this sentence means. But Trump has always said that if the Supreme Court rules these tariffs illegal then he has other options. Treasury Secretary Bessent who I will start calling a Trump-pet has said that half of the tariffs will have to be refunded and that there are “numerous other avenues” by which the president can impose other tariffs.

As expected, the president was less than gracious in his reaction saying that under a different authority he will impose a universal 15 percent tariff under a law that restricts them to 150 days. As to the justices that voted that the tariffs previous tariffs exceeded his authority Trump fumed and said “The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the court — absolutely ashamed — for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country. They’re just being fools and lap dogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats. They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution. It is my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think.” The Wall Street Journal called his rant “the worse moment of his presidency.” Wow! That is saying something.

Some time back in an interview in the New York Times the reporter asked the president: “Do you see any checks on your power on the world stage? Is there anything that could stop you if you wanted to?” The president answered, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me, and that’s very good.” That comment was pure arrogance. Well I think he just got a reminder that his power – like all presidents – is checked by the US Constitution and the Supreme Court. Trump who has pushed to find the limits of executive powers has just found one. The forthcoming rulings on the attempts to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and eliminate birthright citizenship will be additional tests. I expect him to lose both. Once I thought unanimously but now I am not so sure. But wouldn’t it be interesting if Thomas voted with the majority? I wonder what Trump would then say?

Trump’s own lap dogs and fools are now calling Gorsuch and Coney Barrett “activist judges.” What idiots. 

What is interesting is to read Justice Gorsuch’s concurrence in which he notes that the dissent by Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh is contrary to their earlier rulings on the limits of executive power. He wrote “My dissenting colleagues have defended the major questions doctrine in the past,” referring to the doctrine which says that when the executive branch seeks to wield significant regulatory power, it must first point to an unambiguous delegation of such power by Congress to the executive. In the tariff case, no such unambiguous delegation exists. As to why the dissenters dissented in this case is an interesting question. It is also interesting to note that the liberal justices in turn also voted contrary to their earlier votes in the same cases cited by Justice Gorsuch where they sided with the Biden administration’s attempt to expand executive reach which the conservative justices had earlier voted against. Sad to say but we have come to expect Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson to consistently vote their political views rather than follow the Constitution, but Thomas and Alito? This is very disappointing.

I wonder what remarks the president will have for the justices in his state of the union remarks on February 24^th.