Trump’s lawyers just inadvertently admitted that his tariffs are illegal

Politics Supreme CourtTrumps lawyers just inadvertently admitted that his tariffs are illegalOops.by Ian MillhiserSep 4, 2025, 7:25 PM UTCShareGiftPresident Donald Trump holds up a chart while speaking during trade announcement event at the White House on April 2, 2025. Chip SomodevillaIan Millhiser is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he focuses on the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the decline of liberal democracy in the United States. He received a JD from Duke University and is the author of two books on the Supreme Court.The Trump administration formally asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday evening to decide whether President Donald Trumps ever-shifting tariff policy is lawful. Two federal courts, and a total of 10 federal judges, have all concluded that it is not.The remarkable thing about Trumps petition asking the justices to take up this case, which is known as Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, it that it opens with a long list of factual claims that, if taken seriously by the Court, would compel the justices to strike down the tariffs. But that would assume the Republican-controlled Supreme Court applies the same limits on executive power to Trump that it imposed on Democratic President Joe Biden a highly uncertain proposition.The tariffs are obviously illegal under the Republican justices major questions doctrineDuring the Biden administration, the Republican justices relied on something called the major questions doctrine to strike down several of Bidens policies. The Courts Republicans only recently invented this doctrine. *Reporting by Vox.*