“WE’RE SCREWED”: Trump Panics Over Looming Supreme Court Tariff Ruling |
The Supreme Court could undo the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in as few as two days—and Donald Trump is not taking the countdown well.
The nation’s highest judiciary did not issue its tariff ruling last week, as it widely had been expected to do. That surprised markets, forcing them into a holding pattern as the question of the legality of Trump’s tariffs—which were enacted through provisions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—remained in doubt.
It’s not clear when the Supreme Court will issue its ruling on the tariffs, but the decision could be released in the next wave of court judgments on Wednesday, a reality that has apparently spent the president spinning.
In a lengthy rant on Truth Social Monday, Trump claimed that the U.S. would have to “pay back … Hundreds of Billions of Dollars” to the countries and companies that pledged to invest in American factories and plants in order to avoid his tariffs if the Supreme Court determined his economic action was unlawful.
“When these Investments are added, we are talking about Trillions of Dollars!” Trump wrote. “It would be a complete mess, and almost impossible for our country to pay.”
He then tried to shift blame for the hastily constructed tariff plan—which was built on bad math—onto the judiciary. He claimed that the nine-justice bench would be at fault for the fallout of the plan rather than his office, which forced it through in April against the advice of at least two dozen Nobel Prize–winning economists.
“Anybody who says that it can be quickly and easily done would be making a false, inaccurate, or totally misunderstood answer to this very large and complex question,” Trump continued. “It may not be possible but, if it were, it would be Dollars that would be so large that it would take many years to figure out what number we are talking about and even, who, when, and where, to pay.
“Remember, when America shines brightly, the World shines brightly,” he concluded. “In other words, if the Supreme Court rules against the United States of America on this National Security bonanza, WE’RE SCREWED!”
Senator Mark Kelly has decided enough is enough with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and filed a lawsuit against him in federal court Monday.
Kelly sued Hegseth, the Defense Department, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, and the U.S. Department of the Navy over Hegseth’s attempts to punish the Arizona senator. Hegseth has censured Kelly and moved to reduce his retirement grade and military pension after he appeared in a video message in November with other former service members in Congress advising military personnel to refuse to follow illegal orders from the Trump administration.
In his lawsuit, Kelly alleges that Hegseth and the others violated his First Amendment and due process rights, claiming that the Trump administration’s actions “trample on protections the Constitution singles out as essential to legislative independence.”
“It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech. Allowing that unprecedented step here would invert the constitutional structure by subordinating the Legislative Branch to executive discipline and chilling congressional oversight of the armed forces,” the lawsuit states.
Kelly noted that after President Trump accused him of committing treason and sedition, Hegseth immediately echoed those accusations and moved to punish Kelly without due process.
“The Constitution does not permit the government to announce the verdict in advance and then subject Senator Kelly or anyone else to a nominal process designed only to fulfill it,” Kelly said in the lawsuit.
Hegseth is attempting to punish a sitting member of the Senate for criticizing the president, which already goes against the Constitution and separation of powers, something Kelly highlighted in his lawsuit.
Will this lawsuit force Hegseth and Trump to see how absurd it is to punish members of Congress for their speech? At the very least, it may well embarrass the White House in federal court.
This story has been updated.
At least two Republican senators plan to fight back after the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the weekend, vowing to block all of President Trump’s nominations to the central bank.
Senator Lisa Murkowski said Monday on X, “After speaking with Chair Powell this morning, it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion.
“If the Department of Justice believes an investigation into Chair Powell is warranted based on project cost overruns—which are not unusual—then Congress needs to investigate the Department of Justice. The stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer,” Murkowski added. “My colleague, Senator Tillis, is right in blocking any Federal Reserve nominees until this is resolved.”
Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee who will retire at the end of his term this year, has vowed to block all of the Trump........