ED MORRISSEY: SCOTUS Kills Trump Tariffs … For Now.
The power to impose duties is the power to create revenue streams, and the framers of the Constitution understood the dangers of allowing the executive as both head of state and head of government its own independent revenue. Kings had those powers before Parliament became supreme in England, and for a while afterward as well. Trump and his team had proposed at times that he could exert full authority over tariff revenue without seeking approval from Congress, which makes this a very apt concern about crossing those boundaries. Tariffs imposed by Congress create revenue streams they control, and can then appropriate as they see fit, allowing them to use the power of the purse to oversee and check executive authority.
This is the reason I have always been skeptical that Trump would succeed in a challenge to these tariffs, at least under the emergency powers of the IEEPA. However, that’s not the only way in which Trump could justify these tariffs. Jonathan Turley reminded Fox viewers that Trump has other statutes on which he can rely, although those come with restrictions, and Bruce Mehlman laid them out on Twitter as well:
JONATHAN TURLEY: "There's a lot of runway still for the administration…"
"The administration has other tools in its toolbox. It CAN actually impose tariffs under other statutes!" https://t.co/xGN3evQLch pic.twitter.com/Kya76PnD6y
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 20, 2026
There will be tariffs. Even without IEEPA, the existing tariff toolbox is robust. https://t.co/PrMuGX4gV2 pic.twitter.com/ZWWMELJvdz
— Bruce Mehlman (@bpmehlman) February 20, 2026
Plus, Smoot-Hawley, slight return. Read the whole thing.