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The Supreme Court’s decision on February 20, 2026, striking down the bulk of President Trump’s tariff program under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act was a gut punch to conservatives who believed the Court would protect strong executive action on trade. In a 6–3 ruling the Court held that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose broad, open-ended tariffs—an interpretation that throws a wrench into the playbook many on the right viewed as necessary to confront unfair trade practices.
For years conservative activists and policymakers argued that bold trade remedies were essential to revive American manufacturing and defend our workers from predatory foreign practices; today that argument is being checked by nine robes who claim those choices must come from Congress. Many on the right will see this as judicial arrogance masquerading as textualism—an unelected body telling the elected branches how to run economic policy. The political consequence is obvious: if the right wants strong trade tools it must win elections and then press Congress to give explicit authority.
Legally, the Court leaned on the major-questions doctrine and ordinary tools of statutory interpretation to conclude that Congress never clearly granted the President unlimited tariff power under IEEPA. The opinion, joined by six Justices, explains that delegating such sweeping economic authority to the executive without a clear statement from Congress would eviscerate Article I’s powers. Conservatives who care about separation of powers should be wary of both runaway executive claims and a Court willing to decide sweeping economic questions in place of lawmakers.
Practically speaking, this decision does not wipe out every trade measure the Trump administration has relied upon; tariffs based on other statutes—like certain Section 232 national-security duties—remain on the books, and the administration can try narrower statutory routes to protect industry. But those options are limited in duration and scope, and they hand the advantage back to legal challengers and trade partners that prefer the status quo. Expect a barrage of legal and legislative skirmishing as the Administration searches for statutory scaffolding to rebuild its program.
The financial fallout could be enormous if the courts force refunds of collected duties; Treasury officials have warned that reversing the tariff regime could mean tens of billions in returned revenue and messy litigation over who gets paid back and how. That kind of punishment for policy disagreement would be a shock to anyone who thought protecting American jobs and industry was at least a politically legitimate objective. Conservatives should be focused on the real-world costs that follow legal defeats, not only the abstract doctrine.
Politically, the ruling hands the initiative to opponents of Trump-style trade policy and to an institutional judiciary eager to police the outer bounds of executive power. The Administration has already sought expedited review and will press alternative statutory authorities, but that’s a second-best path full of uncertainty and delay. If conservatives are serious about strong trade tools, they must shift energy into Congress—demanding clear authority for the policies they want rather than relying on emergency powers the courts now say aren’t there.
This is a moment for conservative clarity and resolve: don’t whine about the Court and then do nothing. Organize, elect representatives who will write explicit law, and push for limited, accountable authorities that achieve conservative goals without begging unelected judges to invent policy. The game is not over; it’s simply moved to the place the Constitution meant it to be—Congress—where conservatives who love liberty and American industry must now fight to win.
