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Here Is the Silver Lining to the Supreme Court's Tariff Ruling

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  February 20, 2026 5:30 PM

On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down one of President Trump’s signature economic policies: tariffs. The tariffs were wielded by the Trump administration to reshore U.S. manufacturing, counter unfair trade practices by foreign nations, and secure trillions of dollars in investment. 

While the president has pressed forward, reissuing tariffs under different statutes, former Townhall writer Guy Benson highlighted why the ruling could have a silver lining. 

He made three key points: first, using IEEPA for these policies set a precedent that could be exploited by Democrats for initiatives like the Green New Deal; second, the Court isn’t simply declaring Trump’s tariffs unconstitutional—they are insisting on proper Congressional oversight, essentially “telling Congress to do its job”; and third, the decision helps preserve the Court’s credibility, removing the left’s argument that court-packing is needed because the High Court is beholden to Trump.

In Benson's own words:

Justice Gorsuch’s exchange in oral arguments was so key to me. He asked if a future POTUS could use this precedent to unilaterally declare a “climate emergency” and impose policies he or she wanted as a result. The admin’s lawyer said probably yes. NO THANK YOU!  

SCOTUS isn’t so much slapping down Trump as it is *once again* telling Congress to do its job. If we want to use tariffs this way (separate debate, I’m skeptical), we can pass laws constitutionally. Way too much reliance on the executive and judicial branches to do things they won’t/can’t do with the authority they actually have.

This ruling deals another blow to the Left’s cynical and dangerous delegitimization campaign against SCOTUS. They push destructive schemes like court packing because they are annoyed that they don’t get all the outcomes they want from the current Court. They lie and pretend this Court just prostrates itself in front of Trump and bends to his will. Not so, including on this big one.

At the heart of the problem, of course, isn’t with tariffs themselves, but with Congress’s failure to codify them. Had Republican lawmakers passed these tariffs into law, their legality wouldn’t be in question, and the case would never have reached the Supreme Court. In other words, if Trump wants to avoid this hurdle, he needs to push harder on GOP leaders to rally Congressional Republicans and secure the votes needed to legislate the tariffs.

"The Court got this one right," Benson said. "If Congress wants to impose these tariffs they can, and they have to do their job. That is a recurring theme with SCOTUS."

Benson went on to reiterate his view of the decision on Fox News.