Donald Trump vs. His Own Judges – WSJ

The list was crucial in reassuring conservative voters that he could be trusted on judges. His first nominee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, was on the list. As Mr. Trump said when he nominated Justice Gorsuch, millions of voters said this was the single most important issue to them when they voted for me for President.

Mr. Trump s outburst followed the Court of International Trade s ruling that the President lacks authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs. One of the judges on that panel, Timothy Reif, was nominated by Mr. Trump in 2018.

But don t blame the Federalist Society. Judge Reif was recommended to the White House by Robert Lighthizer, who was Mr. Trump s first-term trade representative. Mr. Leo had nothing to do with it.

Mr. Trump is upset that Judge Reif and two other judges identified limits on the executive s tariff authority without express Congressional authority. Mr. Trump claims the decision must have been motivated by purely a hatred of TRUMP ? What other reason could it be?

Well, how about the law and the Constitution? The panel s 52-page opinion explains that the emergency act doesn t give the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs as he sees fit. This is what federal judges are supposed to do, but in Mr. Trump s universe the only good judge is one who always rules in his favor.

The irony here is that Mr. Trump s appointments to the federal bench are one of the strongest parts of his legacy: 234 judges in total, including 54 circuit-court judges and Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. His recent nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals adds another conservative constitutionalist.

via www.wsj.com

My intuition is that tariffs are unlikely to work as advertised. Thus I don’t think it’s a tragedy if courts say Trump can’t just impose them at will. The statutory rationale for the Trump tariffs seems pretty suspect to me but I realize that this is an issue for the most profound excavations of law and deep international policies best left to those who can stand this area of law. To those with more delicate palates, I suggest Taxation of Income.