A monumental case on President Donald Trump’s trade powers is on deck at the Supreme Court today. The political stakes for Congress are high.
Oral arguments before the Supreme Court this morning should give an initial sense of how justices are approaching the case, which challenges Trump’s authority to levy tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Trump posted Tuesday that a loss would leave the United States “virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us.”
The uncomfortable question for congressional Republicans is what they should do if the Supreme Court rules against Trump.
Potential fallout. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said he expects Trump to ask Congress to act if the tariffs are struck down.
“It would be hard, I think, and the only way to do it would be, in my view, through reconciliation — if it was even doable at all,” Cramer said of passing legislation to give Trump more trade powers.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said “there’s more we could do” if the case doesn’t go the administration’s way.
The Trump administration could turn to other executive authorities aside from IEEPA.
But any pressure on Capitol Hill to address tariffs gets difficult quickly for Republicans. Many Republicans have quietly accepted tariff policies from Trump that they would normally oppose. Asking them to advance legislation that would empower the administration’s approach would be a bitter pill to swallow.
The unease over Trump’s trade moves has ticked up recently. There was last week’s Senate votes to overturn tariffs, a small public revolt this fall over House GOP leaders blocking tariff votes, and the backlash over increasing Argentinian beef imports.
When we asked House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) about what happens if Trump’s tariff regime doesn’t survive a SCOTUS ruling, he emphasized the case’s importance.
“This is unchartered territory whenever you used IEEPA,” Smith told us. “I believe the president has the authority to do it, but let’s see what the Supreme Court decides.”
Smith will be attending arguments at the Supreme Court today. Ways and Means Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are also going.
2026 playbook. Republicans also risk getting hammered over tariffs in the midterms, as Democrats plan to make the trade wars central to their case to voters.
“It’s a huge issue because it’s raising costs on families. It’s a tax on everyday goods, and people are feeling it all over the country,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene told us.
