Raskin: Conservative Supreme Court justices 'willing to put the brakes' on Trump

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said that some conservative justices on the Supreme Court appear “willing to put the brakes” on President Trump, as the high court considers the legality of the president’s sweeping tariffs.

During Wednesday’s oral arguments on whether Trump overstepped his emergency authority to impose the levies, Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointed Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch expressed skepticism toward the administration. 

“Today’s oral argument indicates that the conservative justices may finally be willing put the brakes on Donald Trump’s utterly runaway arguments that he can do whatever he wants under Article 2 of the Constitution,” Raskin told CNN’s Dana Bash on "Inside Politics," referencing the constitutional article that grants presidential authority.

The suit against Trump, brought in April by Democratic officials in 12 states and five small businesses, said that the president is overstepping his bounds as outlined by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The 1977 law allows the president to “regulate” economic transactions during a national emergency, but it had never been invoked to impose tariffs on foreign imports, until Trump did so this year.

Raskin, a constitutional law professor, noted that Congress, not the president, has the power to regulate commerce according to Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. The president, in invoking IEEPA, deemed the country’s trade deficits with foreign partners and the flow of migrants and fentanyl from Mexico, Canada and China as national emergencies. 

During Wednesday's arguments, Roberts said the administration’s justification “is being used for the power to impose tariffs on any product, from any country, for any amount, for any length of time,” which he called “major authority.”

Barrett and Gorsuch also asked pointed questions about the administration’s justification.

"Can you point to any other place in the code or any other time in history where that phrase together, ‘regulate importation,’ has been used to confer tariff-imposing authority?" Barrett asked.

Gorsuch, meanwhile, noted that Congress could cede its responsibility to regulate foreign commerce or declare war if the court upholds the administration's argument the president has “inherent authority” over foreign affairs.