Adam Liptak, Will Trump’s Tariffs Survive Supreme Court’s ‘Major Questions’ Test?, N.Y. Times (Oct. 27, 2025):
The Supreme Court used the “major questions doctrine” to reject much of the Biden administration’s agenda, including its efforts to address climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and student debt. The court’s commitment to the doctrine will be tested next week when it hears arguments about President Trump’s tariffs program. . . .
[In June 2025], Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh proposed a distinction that could lay the groundwork for a decision in Mr. Trump’s favor in the tariffs case.
“The major questions canon has not been applied by this court in the national security or foreign policy contexts,” he wrote, adding: “The usual understanding is that Congress intends to give the president substantial authority and flexibility to protect America and the American people.”
Related TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Law Prof Amicus Briefs in the Tariff Cases (Oct. 25, 2025)
- Good Governance Is Taxing: The Implications Of Tax Policy For Separation Of Powers And The Major Questions Doctrine (Apr. 12, 2025)
Other related coverage:
- Jack Landman Goldsmith, Op-Ed, The Tariff Case and the Major Questions Doctrine, Am. Enterprise Inst. (Sept. 12, 2025)
- Paul Sracic, Trump’s Tariffs Are a Major Legal Question, Wall St. J. (Apr. 6, 2025)
