[1] https://www.newsweek.com/trump-tariffs-hit-lawsuit-group-his...
[2] https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5236142-congress-tariff-...
Constitutionally, the power to set tariffs resides with the Legislative branch, not the Executive branch. Congress has delegated some authority to set tariffs under certain conditions (namely, emergencies and matters related to national security). But the Court is clear that one branch cannot delegate all of its powers to another. The Court is pretty deferential to the Executive branch, especially in matters of national security. But no matter how much you squint, it's hard to see how setting broad based tariffs on all goods from every foreign countries qualifies under the Emergency Economic Powers Act.
If the president tries to do X, then the lawyers block X, then in political game theory the president "wins" in the eyes of the electorate because the president can argue "my plan was perfect, the execution failed due to the opposition, so I am not accountable to what has now happened".
The left might want to see a disaster play out to capitalize in the mid-term elections, laying the accountability directly on the president. The right might not have freedom of action because they fear a well-funded challenger for their seat.
In am interested in other people's opinions and ideas in this area. I agree it is too little discussed and analyzed. Please share your insights!
And more pragmatically, I think that Trump is so committed to causing disasters that he's likely to succeed at enough of his attempts that there should be pushback to as much of it as possible.
If judiciary blocks X, then trump will say "these are the real bad guys, they are as worse as the dems, lets remove them". And BAM ! You have a dictator.
The sad part is that one of the most powerful nation in the world is filled with idiots who will lap up the above argument.
I would say that all this current situation is because of corporate greed, leading to a skewed distribution of wealth, leading to the evolution of a class of voters who are desperate, gullible and mis-informed.
How?
Unlikely. SCOTUS is cowed, as shown by the latest batch of rulings (https://www.npr.org/2025/04/08/nx-s1-5351799/scotus-probatio...). They want to avoid his ire, and interference.
Possibly, they are saving dry powder for a bigger fight.
It’s this kind of legal storytelling, by which you pretend you didn’t authorize something, while actually taking actions that ensure it’s authorized in practice, that is the worst enemy of the rule of law.
For the same reason that i believe a situation like that could play out, i don't think i should judge a judges understanding of, dedication to work through, and knowledge about– the laws.
I actually studied law for a few years. And i am baffled by the confidence of laymen about court rulings. It's almost like a client explaining to me how easy it is to fix this small bug.
Then when you look at how SCOTUS justified it, they basically claim that the petition is invalid if it's not filed where the detainees are currently held. So how is it supposed to work if the feds just keep shuttling them around?
But how do you justify all of the other trade deals made by other presidents?
Were those also unconstitutional? Or just Trump's because they went up not down.
Are there any examples pre-Trump that were not ratified by Congress?
It's a foundational part of the sickness in people like Trump that anything bad is by definition somebody else's fault, and clearly his cultists just keep lapping up his lies no matter how insane and transparent.
Conservatives lack the ability to empathize abstractly. Due to their extreme emphasis on being self-centered, they are deficient in understanding that what happens to another can happen to them.
Once something bad happens to them, they are able to start to see the threads that bind them to others and society. But it’s only once it’s been made personal that there’s a chance of this recognition occurring.
So “us good, them bad” style of mob thinking is more common in conservatives only because they systematically do not ask themselves “are we actually different from them?”
I'm honestly not sure there is another way since laws can't cover all possible future edge cases with effective enforcement mechanisms. The simpler fix is to not elect blatantly corrupt and incompetent leaders, but voters failed that task and now the country is paying the price.
Trump is only out to make money, the guy never had any other thought in life since money gives him status, fame, and power.
It's a grift, as any other of his grifts, but now he can manipulate the whole stock market with his power.
There's nothing else that I can rationally come up with to explain this absurdity.
Nope. Not even close. He's all about power, and the appearance of strength. It's no coincidence that he looks up to Putin.
Money is almost always a means to an end, and this is no exception.