The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump regime’s tariffs, implemented under the terms of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, are unconstitutional, eliciting this predictable response from Donald Trump: “I have a backup plan.”
We can only hope the backup plan is there in the same bag with his healthcare plan, which we’ve been waiting nine years for, and still only have the “concepts of.”
Infrastructure Week also comes to mind.
The “backup plan” isn’t going to end up being much more than leaving the tariffs in place, and daring Congress to do something – which it kinda, sorta did, last week.
But anyway, this is a step in the right direction.
“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. He must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion for the court.
Roberts and two Trump appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, voted with the three liberals – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – in the 6-3 majority.
Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh were the no votes.
The ruling will require the federal government to refund the tariff revenues collected under the IEEPA, amounting to $175 billion.
Prepare yourself for the spate of TV commercials from the ambulance chasers promising to fight for every red cent you deserve, I’m guessing starting in the next hour or so, if not sooner.
The IEEPA tariffs accounted for 55 percent of all of the Trump regime-imposed tariffs, which is to say, there are billions of dollars of dumb Trump tariffs continuing on the books.
The Budget Lab at Yale University tells us that, with the IEEPA tariffs null and void, we’re still under an effective tariff tax rate of 9.1 percent, which is the highest tariff tax rate in effect since 1946 – excluding, of course, 2025 and the first month and a half of 2026.
Even with the IEEPA tariffs off the books now, the tariffs that remain in effect add 0.6 percent to our inflation rate, which remains in the 3 percent range that was supposedly so unacceptable to moderate voters that enough of them pushed the button for Trump in the 2024 election, because he promised to do something about inflation.
Which he did, by making it worse, with his tariffs.
Mark Warner weighs in
“Today’s ruling is a win for American families who have been paying the price for Donald Trump’s reckless tariff agenda,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement released by his office on Friday. “Let’s be clear: tariffs are a tax on American consumers and small businesses already struggling to keep up with rising costs. As families struggle to afford groceries, rent, and everyday essentials, President Trump doubled down on a blanket tariff policy that drove up prices across the board and injected unnecessary chaos into our economy.
“His whiplash approach has also undermined trust with our allies and opened the door for China to present itself as a more reliable trading partner than the United States,” Warner said. “We need a smarter, targeted approach to trade that actually strengthens American competitiveness and helps workers without punishing the very people it’s supposed to help – and one that respects Congress’s role in setting trade policy.
“Today’s decision is an important step toward restoring some economic sanity for hardworking Americans,” Warner said.
Tim Kaine: ‘Tariffs are a tax’
“President Trump’s effort to use emergency powers to impose broad-based tariffs on key allies and trading partners was unlawful and ill-advised from the start, and I am glad that the Supreme Court ruled against this egregious and destructive abuse of presidential power,” U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said in a statement released by his office on Friday.
“Broad-based tariffs are a tax on American consumers, and the Trump administration’s attempt to pretend otherwise was laughable in its inaccuracy and deeply disrespectful to the millions of American consumers who have faced higher prices because of Trump’s unaffordable economic policies,” Kaine said.
“The Supreme Court did its job here in upholding the bedrock principle of separation of powers – Congress must step up and do the same on tariffs, war powers, and many other issues,” Kaine said.
Don Beyer: ‘Much of the damage is done’
“For nearly a year, President Trump has raised prices for the American people, depressed job growth and put our economic wellbeing at risk,” Congressman Don Beyer, D-Eighth District, said in a statement issued by his office on Friday. “He has repeatedly disregarded the Constitution to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs without credible reason or cause, crushing American consumers and small businesses under these new taxes to help pay for giveaways to his wealthy friends. Now, at last, the Supreme Court has ruled that he broke the law to do so. Even Trump’s Supreme Court allies, who have bent over backwards to give him unprecedented powers over and over again, had to admit that his tariffs are unconstitutional and illegal.
“While this is a win for the American people and American businesses who will no longer have to pay these taxes, much of the damage is done,” Beyer said. “Manufacturers closed their doors and let go of workers as their costs skyrocketed. Small businesses have shuttered, and those that survived will have a hard time claiming the money they are owed under this framework, while consumers who have paid more for everyday necessities will likely never receive a refund.
“These brutal losses could have been avoided if congressional Republicans had the courage to stand up to Trump and end his trade war sooner. The American people will remember who fought for affordability and who called it a hoax,” Beyer said.
Ben Cline: Crickets
Sixth District Congressman Ben Cline, a vocal supporter of the tariffs throughout 2025 …
- in March: Trump is “hard at work making sure that we make American trade fair with other countries, that we treat other countries the way they treat us.”
- in August: “President Trump’s tariffs are working, holding our foreign adversaries accountable and putting America first.
… hasn’t yet weighed in publicly on the Supreme Court decision.
No surprise there – MAGAs in Congress are exercising their right to remain silent here in the first couple of hours since the ruling was handed down, waiting for the scripts from their bosses with the White House comms team.
What has had Cline’s attention this morning: the SAVE Act, which would make it harder for women and minorities to vote; his support for ICE, which Trump has been using to terrorize immigrant communities in blue cities.
They’ll do that – it’s called distraction.
This war that Trump is itching to get started with Iran is a distraction – from the Epstein files, and now we can add this Supreme Court decision on tariffs on the list.
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Chris Graham
