It’s a big week for President Trump’s tariffs with the issue set to be addressed in court. The Supreme Court is set to hear challenges to President Trump’s tariffs, brought by small businesses and several states. Critics argue that the 1977 law doesn’t grant the President the emergency tariff powers he claims, asserting instead that such authority belongs to Congress.
Trump’s pick for Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, Julie Callahan, argued in favor of using tariffs as a trade tool at her Senate confirmation hearing.
A ruling from the Supreme Court could either confirm the President’s influence over trade or force a return to traditional, slower moving legislative methods to reduce trade barriers.
Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNN’s State of the Union that the administration has decided not to appeal two court rulings requiring the use of emergency funds to partially support the SNAP program.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said recently that emergency funds couldn’t be used for SNAP while the program remains inactive during the government shutdown. That claim is at odds with the use of those funds in the 2019 shutdown.
