Major Questions Doctrine Faces Tariffs Test | JQJO

The Supreme Court’s “major questions doctrine”—used to block parts of President Biden’s climate, Covid-19, and student-debt initiatives—faces a pivotal test next week as justices hear arguments over President Trump’s tariffs program. The doctrine demands clear, direct congressional authorization for sweeping economic actions. The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act lacks words like “tariffs,” even as the levies carry trillion-dollar consequences, exceeding the roughly $500 billion at issue in Biden’s loan plan, which Chief Justice John Roberts called “staggering.” Critics, including Justice Elena Kagan, say the doctrine appears opportunistically, not consistently.