President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would likely make the highly unusual move and head to the Supreme Court to watch arguments on the cases related to his tariffs.
On November 5, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the president has the authority to impose his tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump talked about how important the cases are to him.
‘We have a big case coming up in the Supreme Court, and I will tell you, that’s one of the most important cases in the history of our country,’ he said. ‘That’s why I think I’m going to the Supreme Court to watch it.’
‘I’ve not done that. And I’ve had some pretty big cases,’ he added.
Presidents generally only go to the Supreme Court for ceremonial events, as their attendance at the Court while a party to the case could raise constitutional questions related to the separation of powers.
But Trump continues to be a breaker of norms, floating that the justices should expect him.
‘I think it’s one of the most important cases ever brought because we will be defenseless against the world,’ he said.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would likely head to the Supreme Court and watch the tariff cases be argued in early November
The president has been pro-tariff for decades and has implemented a whirlwind of tariffs on countries across the globe since coming back into office in January.
On his so-called ‘Liberation Day,’ on April 2, he notified countries they would be hit with reciprocal tariffs of various rates if they chose not to negotiate.
Trump also imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, criticizing the countries for allowing fentanyl to be trafficked into the United States.
The president has done so without the assistance of Congress.
Trump has leaned on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law that gives the president, when dealing with ‘any unusual and extraordinary threat,’ the ability to regulate importation.
But the law doesn’t mention tariffs by name, something plaintiffs have pointed out.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the government’s top lawyer, has pushed back on that, noting that the Supreme Court ‘has repeatedly rejected such magic-words requirements.’
Sauer argued in a legal brief that the IEEPA ‘plainly authorizes the president to impose tariffs’ because tariffs ‘are a traditional and commonplace way to regulate imports’ and the law gives the president the power to ‘regulate importation.’
Challengers have also pushed that even if the IEEPA gives the president authority to impose tariffs, it does not allow the president to impose ‘unlimited’ tariffs.
Sauer pushed back, saying that such an argument ‘attacks a strawman’ because IEEPA has its own guardrails.
The act includes ‘a slew of procedural and reporting requirements that allow Congress to oversee and override the president’s determinations.’
