Originally published at: What Does It Mean That SCOTUS Hasn’t Ruled on IEEPA Tariffs? Nothing, Experts Said. - TPM – Talking Points Memo
When, on Jan. 9, a Supreme Court decision day came and went without an opinion on the legality of President Donald Trump’s signature economic policy, deep and wide tariffs, observers exhaled. The justices’ decision on whether Trump can levy widespread, global and indefinite tariffs using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, or IEEPA, had been…
Normally, I would find the comments of expert SCOTUS watchers to be persuasive, given their positions and expertise. But with this court, I do wonder, specifically because of the way they handled the presidential immunity claim. After relatively fast action at the district and appeals court levels, the Supreme Court sat on their – unconscionable – decision to the last possible day, even though a matter of this weight and urgency deserved their rapid attention. Moreover, their delay was directly political, as it allowed the petitioner to continue his presidential campaign, and to avoid spending time defending his attack on our political system, for months while avoiding the outrage at the SCOTUS ‘get out of jail free’ card that he garnered in the end. Just as much as the decision, the maximal delay in issuing it was a highly political act on the court’s part, IMHO. In light of that dire precedent, I am less willing to accept the argument that “they take their time” and “this is normal and doesn’t tell us anything.” There are powerful political reasons for the current president to want this decision to be delayed as long as possible; and the court, despite accepting it as an ‘urgent’ matter, is taking a long time. Color me skeptical, therefore, that the delay has no significance.
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January 16: Listen guys, I’m gonna threaten Europe with huge tariffs over the Greenland thing. Be ready.
January 21: Listen guys, I’m about to back off the tariff threat. Be ready.
I wonder how many people close to Trump made very large trades around those two days.
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Not an unusual delay. Not taking unusually long. Typical time lag.
Yet more evidence that the legal system is incapable of dealing with a rogue president, much less one that’s gone totally insane. The legal system refused to bar him from seeking the presidency again, even though he fomented an insurrection and states wanted him off the ballot. Heck, he should have been perp-walked out of the White House January 6, 2021, where he squatted in front of his many teevies, lapping up the scenes of violence and refusing to do anything to rescue the United States Congress or secure the Electoral Vote Count.
Sorry about the rant. The sorry performance at Davos – by that demented old fool and by the world “leaders” who gave in to him – still rankles.
For what it’s worth, Stacy Abrams is once again on the case!
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SCOTUS is waiting for the State of the Union speech. The tariff decision won’t come until afterwards. At least, that’s my prediction.
The current MAGA dominated Supreme Court deserves zero respect for its dithering over Trump’s patently unconstitutional tariffs. They go out of their way to help the Trump regime and display no respect for the rule of law.
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Last day of the session with some form of “win” for Dump. Likely an unconstitutional result, but it’s way too late to refund anything (because we didn’t let the injunction happen and dragged our feet on ruling).
I hope they have popcorn because if Davos is any indication, it’s going to be a doozy.
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The judiciary is very fearful. Everything President Trump has done has been found constitutional and AOK.
I’m just a nobody, not an ‘expert-court-watcher’ but SCOTUS looks openly partisan and corrupt. They’re letting Trump be king for several more months for nothing other than their arbitrary self-imposed schedule. They did the same thing when they delayed their opinions on Trump’s trials in '23-'24, to make sure justice could not touch him until after the election made trials impossible.
Canada is now getting its 2nd or 3rd run of 100%+ tariff threats. The SCOTUS should be impeached at the first opportunity for this, among other things. They’re bad people.
They’re not afraid. He’s doing what they want.