Initial Supreme Court Arguments on Tariffs Case Offer Some Hints

Initial Supreme Court Arguments on Tariffs Case Offer Some Hints

A number of justices are skeptical of reading too much into the president’s “unlimited” powers.

A man wearing a white hat and blue shirt holds a sign that reads "Congress can only tax! Not Trump" while standing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building. November 5, 2025, 2:34 PM Comment icon View Comments ( )

Trump’s Second Term

Ongoing reports and analysis

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in what is at once a wildly abstruse case, as most cases that reach the highest court usually are, but which boiled down to some pretty basic and seemingly important issues: Does the president have absolutely unfettered powers to mess with the entirety of the U.S. economy and a few dozen trillion dol