Benjamin Gutman, Oregon’s solicitor general, is making his first oral argument appearance before the justices on behalf of a group of #states that challenged the #tariffs.
#Kavanaugh asked, why would #Congress give the president the power to shut down #trade but not to take a less severe step, like impose a 1% tariff. That, he said, appeared to underscore the govt’s claim, creating an “odd donut hole in the statute.”
“It’s not a donut hole,” responded Gutman. “It’s a different kind of pastry.”
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Benjamin Gutman, Oregon’s solicitor general, is making his first oral argument appearance before the justices on behalf of a group of #states that challenged the #tariffs.
#Kavanaugh asked, why would #Congress give the president the power to shut down #trade but not to take a less severe step, like impose a 1% tariff. That, he said, appeared to underscore the govt’s claim, creating an “odd donut hole in the statute.”
“It’s not a donut hole,” responded Gutman. “It’s a different kind of pastry.”
We are approaching the 2½-hour mark in #SCOTUS’ tariff oral argument. So far, the justices have heard argument in defense of Trump’s #tariffs from Solicitor General D. John Sauer. They then heard the argument against the tariffs from Neal #Katyal, lawyer for small businesses who challenged the tariffs.
Now, they are listening to the argument against the tariffs by Benjamin Gutman, the solicitor general of Oregon, who represents a group of states that challenged the tariffs.
An emerging theme, from the conservative justices, is that the president’s concededly broad power to shut down #trade generally may include the lesser power to impose #tariffs. That echoes the admin’s position.
Justice #Sotomayor jumped into the questioning & refocused the case back on a primary argument against the tariff programs, that the #Constitution gives #Congress, NOT the president, the #power to #tax.
#SCOTUS #law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #AbuseOfPower #Trump #economy
#Sotomayor: “We’re forgetting here is a
very fundamental point, which is the #Constitution is structured so that if I’m going to be asked to pay for something as a citizen, that it’s through a bill that is generated through #Congress, & the president has the power to veto it or not, but I’m not going to be taxed unless both houses, the executive & the legislature, have made that choice, correct?”
#SCOTUS #law #tariffs #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #AbuseOfPower #Trump #economy
At one point, #Sotomayor listed some of the #tariffs #Trump had imposed, & the wide ranging reasons he had done so — pointing to examples like #Brazil. That country is facing steep duties as Trump looks to protect his political ally, #Bolsonaro, from prosecution.
She concluded with a rhetorical question: “The point is, those may be good policies, but does the statute…[give]…without limit the power to the president to impose this kind of tax—does it require more than the word ‘regulate’?”
