The facade of the Supreme Court building at dusk is shown in this file photo. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In doing so, the 6-3 conservative majority has reversed about two dozen preliminary nationwide injunctions imposed by lower federal courts, leading to frustration and confusion among many judges.
Now those percolating petitions are starting to reach the Supreme Court for final review — and legal analysts say the bench may be poised to grant broad unilateral powers to the president.
The justices fast-tracked the administration's appeal over sweeping tariffs on nearly every country, which were blocked by lower courts.
A high court ruling on the merits could come quickly, perhaps within weeks. Both sides have urged a quick decision, since the U.S. has been engaged in active, ongoing trade negotiations with dozens of countries over the past months.
This could be the start of several high-profile merits appeals over Trump's executive actions.
In December, the justices will decide whether to overturn a 90-year precedent dealing with the president's ability to fire members of some federal regulatory agencies like the Federal Trade Commission.
SENATE REPUBLICANS DEFECT, REJECT TRUMP'S TARIFFS ON CANADIAN GOODS
And in January, the power of President Trump to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors will be tested in another major constitutional showdown. For now, the Biden-appointed Cook will remain on the job.
Other appeals that could be added to the high court argument docket include birthright citizenship and other immigration-related petitions, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies in educational institutions and the environment.
Congress is given the power under the Constitution's Article I to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises."
But when Trump in February began issuing a series of executive orders, he relied on the IEEPA, which gives the president the power — under a self-declared national economic emergency — to "investigate, block during the pendency of an investigation, regulate, direct and compel, nullify, void, prevent or prohibit, any acquisition, holding, withholding, use, transfer, withdrawal, transportation, importation or exportation of, or dealing in, or exercising any right, power, or privilege with respect to, or transactions involving, any property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest."
The Trump Justice Department says the choices are stark.
"President Trump and his advisors have determined that erroneously invalidating the IEEPA tariffs, 'would have catastrophic consequences for our national security, foreign policy, and economy,'" wrote U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who will argue the case before the justices. Citing Trump's own words, "The President has emphasized: 'If the United States were forced to unwind these historic agreements ... the economic consequences would be ruinous, instead of unprecedented success."
United States Supreme Court (front row L-R) Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, (back row L-R) Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pose for their official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on Oct. 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The unpredictable, ongoing rollout of tariffs has created global economic uncertainty and fears of higher consumer prices, but Trump has also used them as political leverage to pressure countries into negotiating new trade deals.
"A big fraction of the Supreme Court's docket will present the question, can President Trump do: fill in the blank? And that includes imposed tariffs," said Dupree. "Trump is pushing at every limit and the Supreme Court this term is going to be telling us whether he's exceeded those limits. That is going to be the story of so much of what the Supreme Court is deciding this term is whether the president has [acted] within or has exceeded."
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Of more immediate focus, the tariff cases will offer a tantalizing "first look" guide of how broadly the conservative majority high court views Trump's muscular view of presidential power, a template for almost certain future appeals of his executive agenda.
The cases are Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (24-1287); Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc. (25-250).
Shannon Bream currently serves as anchor of FOX News Sunday. She joined the network in 2007 as a Washington D.C- based correspondent covering the Supreme Court.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-prepares-confront-monumental-case-trump-executive-power-tariff-authority