On February 20, the Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, known as IEEPA, does not authorize President Trump’s sweeping tariffs. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, and the consolidated case, the Court held that the statute does not grant the President the power to impose tariffs under a declaration of economic emergency.
In this episode, we explore what the Court held, why the Justices disagreed about the reasoning, and what this decision might tell us about the future of presidential emergency power. To help us explore these questions are two leading Court watchers and constitutional experts, Zachary Shemtob of SCOTUSblog and Ilya Somin of the George Mason University. Julie Silverbrook, vice president of civic education of the National Constitution Center, moderates.
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This episode was produced and mixed by Bill Pollock. Research was provided by Anna Salvatore, Trey Sullivan, and Tristan Worsham.
Participants
Zachary Shemtob is the executive editor of SCOTUSblog. Zach has written extensively on the Supreme Court and its jurisprudence for both academic journals and the popular press. Prior to joining SCOTUSblog, he practiced law, clerked for federal judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and was a professor of criminology at Central Connecticut State University, where he focused on legal decision making.
Ilya Somin is a professor of law at George Mason University, the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. His most recent book is Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration and Political Freedom. Together with the Liberty Justice Center and others, he was co-counsel in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, one of the tariff cases decided by the Supreme Court.
Julie Silverbrook is vice president of civic education at the National Constitution Center where she oversees the Center’s civic education strategy and the development and distribution of all educational products and programs.
Additional Resources
- Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (2026)
- “Supreme Court strikes down tariffs,” SCOTUSblog (2/20/2026)
- Ilya Somin, “How the Supreme Court Spared America,” The Atlantic (2/21/2026)
- Ilya Somin, “The Supreme Court Spurns a Presidential Power Grab,” The Dispatch (2/23/2026)
- Ilya Somin, “Trump’s new tariffs are another dangerous presidential power grab,” Boston Globe (2/24/2026)
- Ilya Somin, “Not Everything Is an Emergency,” The Dispatch (1/31/2025)
- “Are Trump’s Tariffs Lawful?,” We the People (11/06/2025)
- Biden v. Nebraska (2023)
- Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc. (2001)
- Dames & Moore v. Regan (1981)
- Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1953)
- United States v. Yoshida International, Inc. (CCPA, 1975)
- United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)
- Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935)
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