Will Supremes Trump Trump’s Tariffs?

Letter to Ephesians: No. 47’s tariff power may depend on Chief Justice Roberts in a key pending case. He’s under pressure from the president & other Justices to call it THEIR way. But during 2 decades leading the Supremes, Roberts has shown he often calls it HIS Indy way.

True, the Chief Justice has most often sided with the conservatives on the Highest Court. As the WSJ coverage notes, “since taking his seat in 2005, he has been central to rulings that eliminated affirmative action, elevated religious-exercise rights, limited federal regulatory authority and, of particular focus now, expanded presidential power.” Yet, “in many areas, Roberts has been less aggressive than other conservative justices and has nurtured the reputation of an institutionalist: a judge who places value on consensus, stability in the legal system & building credibility with the public.” And, in the oral arguments of the long awaited and highly controversial tariff test case, it was clear that several conservative as well as liberal Justices had difficulty accepting Mr. Trump’s demand for the Court’s blanket stamp of approval. If the tariff case comes down to the Chief Justice’s tie breaker? Many Court watchers have already opined it’s not all that certain how the Chief Judge will use his influence or cast his vote.

According to most MSM coverage, Justice Roberts was among those appearing to “lean against” the DOJ’s arguments that Trump had the power to unilaterally impose tariffs with any nation. On the other hand, the WSJ noted, “the arguments barely touched on the implications of the ruling against the president … Not only are the economic consequences enormous – the government says it expects to have collected between $750 billion and $1 trillion in tariffs by next June – [but] the political implications could be even greater.” Hardly coincidentally, Mr. Trump recently floated the idea of a $2,000 “tariff rebate” for every taxpayer. Think about the potential political impact of that one. Will Roberts, in the end, think about working to give a hardly starving Trump at least a quarter if not half a loaf or more and not cut his tariff powers into tiny slices as the anti-Trumpers hope?

Davd Soul