Major Questions, Tariffs, and Emergency Powers

In Learning Resources v. Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated President Trump’s reliance on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs. A three-Justice plurality invoked the major questions doctrine, concluding that Congress must speak with clear authorization before delegating such expansive economic authority to the President. The decision exposes deep divisions among the Justices over the scope, justification, and limits of the major questions doctrine. This panel examines the doctrine’s development, the Court’s reasoning in Learning Resources, and the emerging fault lines that may shape future disputes over executive power and the administrative state.