The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Trump never had the legal authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Within hours, Trump signed replacement tariffs under a different statute — one that expires in 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them. Importers are owed an estimated $175 billion in refunds. Consumers who actually paid those costs have no legal claim to recover a dime.
The EPA doubled allowable mercury emissions from coal plants the same day, eliminating Biden-era limits on the nation’s largest source of mercury pollution. The agency estimated $670 million in industry savings but offered no accounting for health costs.
On immigration, the Department of Homeland Security authorized indefinite detention of refugees who haven’t obtained green cards within one year — while the government’s own processing freeze makes that impossible for thousands. HUD proposed barring undocumented immigrants from living in subsidized housing, a rule that could displace more than 100,000 people from units they already occupy.
Overseas, Britain’s refusal to let America use Diego Garcia for Iran operations exposed a deeper problem: the only U.S. base in the Indian Ocean depends on a treaty its president rejects and a parliament that can’t pass it.
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