Chief Justice Roberts' 'key' blow to Trump singled out on MS NOW
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, October 2, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
February 20, 2026
As news was breaking that the Supreme Court dealt a massive blow to Donald Trump’s use of tariffs in a surprising 6-3 vote, MS NOW host Anna Cabrerra singled out an important passage Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.
As legal analysts, Lisa Rubin and Catherine Christian scrambled to read the 107-page document, Cabrerra read, “The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it. IEEPA’s grant of authority to regulate . . . 'importation' falls short.’'
The jurist continued, “IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties. The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word ‘regulate’ to authorize taxation. And until now no President has read IEEPA to confer such power.”
“We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs,” Roberts insisted.