An opinion weighing in on the process in the Supreme Court.
The case it discuses is Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump.
- Oyez: Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump.
- ScotusBlog: Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump.
It regards the constitutional taxing powers, and whether the president improperly used an act of Congress to bypass its limits.
- Overview of Taxing Clause.
- International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Click here for the full article.
. . . more than 12 weeks have already passed since the Nov. 5, 2025 arguments in the tariffs case. Now the court is on break, meaning a decision is unlikely for at least a few more weeks. Judging by the oral argument, Trump is the underdog in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump. But the longer the case drags on without resolution, the less likely it is that the president got licked.
. . . The lengthy deliberations are a puzzle because the case is not particularly complex. The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act allows the president to “regulate” imports in an emergency. Trump says this IEEPA language means he can impose unlimited tariffs on any country at will, even though the Constitution gives the tariff power to Congress. The Supreme Court has decided a series of similar cases in recent years emphasizing that Congress needs to speak clearly to give sweeping powers over the economy to the executive branch. This legislation doesn’t mention the power to tax or tariff.
It’s still hard to see how Trump wins this case, given the three liberal justices inclined against him, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch’s strict view of the separation of powers and the chief justice’s concern with the court’s nonpartisan reputation. But the odds of a clean and decisive defeat for the president are going down, and the odds of some sort of negotiated settlement are going up. Perhaps the justices are trying to engineer a way to block the tariffs only prospectively, without inviting an avalanche of lawsuits over refunds. That could be a worthy goal, but the damage from judicial delay is growing.
