President Donald Trump gestures to Chief Justice John Roberts. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
President Donald Trump is ignoring the reality of his recent losses from the Supreme Court, according to The Hill, pushing ahead with new plans to address key goals — and immediately running into more legal pushback.
"President Trump is reframing his Supreme Court losses on tariffs, birthright citizenship and the Federal Reserve as victories in disguise," the outlet detailed in a Wednesday report. "Exuding confidence, Trump is pressing ahead with new attempts at all three. But his critics are rushing back to court. It tees up key tests of the Supreme Court’s recent blockbuster decisions, putting Trump’s agenda on the line once again."
The court previously shot down most of Trump's tariffs, finding that he lacked the authority he claimed to have to create new import taxes without congressional approval. It also pushed back against his efforts to have Lisa Cook, a Joe Biden appointee, fired from her role on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, allowing her to remain in the position while her legal challenge moved ahead. Finally, the court ruled against his executive order attempting to reshape the definition of "birthright citizenship," in direct defiance of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
As The Hill noted, Trump has a tendency to "interpret judicial rulings broadly," pushing to see how much leeway he can find to pursue his agenda items in spite of them.
"When the court stopped him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook because she was owed due process, he quickly noted that it was on a 'strictly procedural basis' and vowed to push on," the report added. "On tariffs, Trump claims the ruling invalidating his first round of global levies made his authority “more powerful and more crystal clear.” And when the majority struck down his Day 1 executive order restricting birthright citizenship, Trump latched on to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion that found it only violated federal law."
Those who oppose Trump's goals on these fronts have been quick to respond in court. Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, spoke with The Hill about the suit his group filed against Trump alongside the American Civil Liberties Union in opposition to Trump's new order targeting birthright citizenship again.
"This order is a desperate and brazen attempt to bypass the Supreme Court’s decision and expand a very narrow set of exceptions to the 14th Amendment," Kohli explained.
"They didn’t file a new lawsuit. Instead, they’ve returned to the trial judge who ruled against Trump last year and was ultimately affirmed by the Supreme Court," The Hill explained. "They want him to declare that Trump can’t cut off citizenship for anyone covered by that existing class-action lawsuit, no matter what new executive orders the president may sign."
Cook's legal team, led by Abbe Lowell, also spoke with The Hill about his client's ongoing situation.
"These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve,” the team said in a statement. “No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent — there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook.”
