President Donald Trump suffered one of the biggest blows to his domestic agenda on Friday when the Supreme Court struck down his power to levy tariffs. It was a massive body blow given how much Trump regularly talks about how tariffs are "my favorite word."
The tariffs ruling could provide relief for both businesses and consumers, given how much businesses have had to absorb or pass on to their customers to cover the cost of what is effectively an import tax.
Almost immediately, he announced that he would impose a 10 percent tariff that would be in effect for 150 days.
But perhaps just as surprising as the actual ruling was that three of the court's six conservatives, including Chief Justice John Roberts as well asTrump-appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberals.
His other nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, sided with Trump. Gorsuch in particular issued a blistering concurring majority opinion, effectively saying Congress needed to do its job.
"Yes, legislating can be hard and take time," Gorsuch wrote. "And, yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design."
While some Republicans — namely senators like Bernie Moreno of Ohio — voiced their opposition to the court, a handful of Republicans across the ideological spectrum seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Today's Supreme Court ruling reaffirms that only Congress has the constitutional authority to impose tariffs, and the President can only do so under a clear and limited delegation of authority from Congress," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Collins, the most vulnerable incumbent Republican, flagged how in the past, she opposed Trump's tariffs on Canada, which shares a border with Maine.
By the same token, Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian Republican and Trump foe who is about as diametrically opposed to Collins as can be in the same party, criticized the fact that earlier this month, only five other Republicans in the House sided with him to oppose Trump's tariffs.
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