Political Glance
The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to President Donald Trump's economic agenda, ruling that he does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs at the stroke of a pen.
The court on Feb. 20 tossed the tariffs that are the centerpiece of his economic policy and a major foreign policy tool – but that have also raised costs for consumers and businesses. The 6-3 decision from the conservative court was its first major ruling against Trump's controversial expansive view of presidential power.
“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.”
Trump, Roberts concluded, cannot.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, the first of three conservatives Trump appointed to the court, wrote a separate opinion stressing the importance of major policies like taxes and tariffs going through Congress.
An army veteran detained by federal immigration agents in southern California during his work commute in July has filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
Workers on Thursday began restoring an exhibit on the lives of the nine people once enslaved at the former President’s House in Philadelphia amid a contentious legal fight between the city and the Trump administration.
Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, is leaving the agency, the department confirmed on Tuesday.
Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America’s national parks.
