Bombshell Supreme Court ruling setting GOP up for 'bitter internal battle'

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, left, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, center, and retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy listen as US President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress (REUTERS)

After the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its bombshell 6-3 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump on Friday, February 20, President Donald Trump angrily railed against the decision and attacked six of the justices as a "disgrace." The majority struck down most of Trump's tariffs as illegal, and he even went so far as to say that the six justices — who included Chief Justice John Roberts, Trump appointees Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, and Democratic appointees Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan — should be investigated for foreign influence.

But some Republicans are applauding the decision. And former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) pushed back against Trump's claim that the federal government's executive branch should unilaterally set trade policy, saying, "Congress is not an inconvenience to avoid."

In an article published on February 24, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports that the High Court's Learning Resources decision is fueling a "bitter internal Republican battle."

Bolton explains, "Trump's staunchest allies, led by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), are already pushing a plan to move legislation under the special budget reconciliation process that would allow them to raise tariff rates with a simple majority vote to bolster Trump's embattled trade agenda…. But raising tariff rates with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes usually needed to pass controversial legislation through the Senate is certain to encounter opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other Republican critics of Trump's global trade war."

Bolton adds, "Paul, on Friday, applauded the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Trump's declaration of emergency powers to implement tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)…. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also cheered the Supreme Court decision striking down Trump's use of emergency powers to impose tariffs."

But Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), on the other hand, described the High Court's decision as "disappointing."

Budd told The Hill, "I’ve not traditionally been a fan of tariffs; I've been very clear about that. But again, I support the president and his agenda."

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