In today’s episode of “What Has the Supreme Court Done Now?” we dive into the delightful chaos of foreign trade tariffs and the legal circus surrounding them. Here we have the president, attempting to wield tariffs as a strategic tool for international trade negotiations, only for the Supreme Court to throw a wrench in the works. In a case that could only be summed up as nine lawyers entering a room and leaving with less clarity than when they started, the Court was torn on whether the president picked the right law from five available options to justify imposing tariffs. Three justices seemed satisfied with the president’s choice, while the majority of six insisted he needed a different law from his legal toolbox.
This situation begs the question: Why bother having all those laws if none of them can be used conveniently? Perhaps the Supreme Court would be happy if tariffs could only be enacted after completing a 500-page choose-your-own-adventure legal manual. Until they figure that out, the president plans to just choose another law and carry on with the tariffs—a move akin to washing dishes by hand because you’re not allowed to use the dishwasher. Meanwhile, other countries are laughing all the way to the trade bank, knowing it takes an eternity for the United States to retaliate effectively.
What leaves many conservatives absolutely fuming is the alleged inconsistency. Richard Nixon used similar authority back in the day, and yet, now the same law doesn’t seem to stand up in court. Maybe the Justices just weren’t feeling it that day, or perhaps some are more swayed by the cheers from the liberal seats than by supporting what they campaigned on. It’s almost like America’s judiciary forgot they were supposed to be about law, not seasonal political trends. And for those Supreme Court Justices who sided with the Democrats, well, one wonders if their invites to state dinners are arriving, but barely just.
On the flip side, there’s a silver lining in this cloud of judicial confusion. Even with this hiccup, the president strides on, targeting and tailoring tariffs with utmost precision. He’s doing what he does best: shaking things up and making people uncomfortable enough to strike a deal. Foreign countries that hoped for a quick resolve to their tariff triumph celebrations might just be disappointed to find out the party’s over before it really began.
Through all of this legal drama, the small-town heroes of America stand tall. Workers in industries that were once on life support now want to kiss the president for putting their industries back on the map, or rather, back to work. These are the people who pay the ultimate price of ‘globalism gone wild,’ but with these tariffs, at least someone is trying to balance the scales. Foreign gadgets can wait, and those cheap imports may no longer flood American markets unchecked.
Democrats, meanwhile, are busy elsewhere—distracted by high-speed rail projects that don’t seem to happen and arguing for tax hikes while painting this as a caring gesture for middle-class America. In this whirlwind, one has to wonder if it’s the Democrats who are truly on the bridge too far, trying to engineer their way out of promises they never quite intended to keep. Maybe they should be looking to fix their own house before criticizing anyone else’s toolshed.
