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Supreme Court, 6-3, Strikes Down Most Trump Tariffs

Fractured opinions highlight unresolved fights over the major questions doctrine.

Overview

  • Chief Justice John Roberts issued a 21-page opinion that assembled only a partial coalition to invalidate the duties.
  • The court’s three liberal justices joined the judgment but characterized the dispute as a straightforward ultra vires action rather than a major-questions case.
  • Justice Neil Gorsuch concurred in a 46-page opinion criticizing colleagues for applying precedent differently to presidential power in Trump- and Biden-era cases.
  • Justice Brett Kavanaugh filed a 61-page dissent contending that IEEPA authorized the tariffs and that foreign-affairs considerations limit use of the major questions doctrine.
  • Legal scholars pointed to unusual public bickering among the justices and said the splintered reasoning leaves uncertainty about how the doctrine will be applied in future cases.