I was not there in the Supreme Court last week when arguments were heard about the power of President Trump to impose tariffs almost willy-nilly style by using emergency economic power.
From my viewpoint (for whatever that’s worth), however, I think Chief Justice John Roberts will probably side with the tariff — and Trump — naysayers in deciding the case.
Remember Roberts’s role in the 2022 Dobbs v. Women’s Health Care Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade — he sided with the liberal justices in voting no.
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Not only that, but when the decision was leaked prior to the official release date, Roberts basically fiddled while Rome burned in trying to find the leaker.
Though Roberts has deep conservative roots, having grown up professionally in the Reagan years, he was appointed by President George W. “Dubya” Bush, today a known but somewhat reticent Trump hater. That raises another big question mark.
During the hearings, Roberts asked something to the effect that “Isn’t a tariff just a tax?” Since presidents cannot impose taxes, can they impose tariffs? might be another way of phrasing this.
I would give my Roberts tariff vote to the liberal wing, leaving the case’s fate to another flopper in Amy Coney Barrett. She is also conservative in her roots, but since Supreme Court justices were targeted and threatened with violence after the Dobbs decision, her votes have shown a safe leftward tilt.
Anyway, it will be fun to see how this Supreme Court soap opera plays out. I expect a 5-4 vote one way or another.
