#ClarenceThomas first asks about the ‘major questions’ doctrine
The conservative majority blocked President Joe #Biden’s $500 billion student loan forgiveness plan & other of his administration’s initiatives by ruling that #Congress must speak clearly on questions of “vast economic & political significance.”
It’s not clear whether the justices will apply the same principle in the #tariffs case, but lower courts did.
Sauer says it doesn’t apply to foreign affairs issues.
Justice #Kagan says #Congress, not the president, had the power to #tax & regulate foreign commerce.
Justice #Sotomayor is pressing the government on the fact that #tariffs are a form of #taxation, which rests in the hands of lawmakers to enact. “It’s a congressional power, not a presidential power, to tax,” she said.
Sauer argues that what is at issue in this case is not the “power to tax,” an authority given to Congress, but the ability to regulate foreign powers.