We the People Supreme Court Rules Trump’s Tariffs Unlawful Under IEEPA
Feb 26, 2026
Ilya Somin, law professor and constitutional scholar focused on separation of powers; Zachary Shemtob, SCOTUSblog editor and longtime Supreme Court watcher. They discuss the Court's ruling that IEEPA did not authorize sweeping tariffs. Short takes on the major questions doctrine, competing judicial rationales, historical practice, practical fallout for refunds and future limits on presidential emergency power.
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Major Questions Can Be Both Linguistic And Structural
- The two rationales are not mutually exclusive and often point to the same outcome.
- Ilya Somin argues major questions can be both a linguistic clear-statement rule and a stand-in for non-delegation concerns.
Liberals Avoided Major Questions But Agreed On Outcome
- Three liberal justices agreed outcome could be reached via ordinary statutory interpretation.
- They declined to rely on major questions because they prefer textual or contextual readings and worry about hampering future presidents.
Gorsuch's Festivus Airing Of Judicial Inconsistency
- Justice Gorsuch's concurrence criticized colleagues for inconsistent uses of major questions and non-delegation doctrines.
- He accused both conservative and liberal colleagues of selective application across prior cases like loan forgiveness and eviction moratorium.