Trump Fights To Save Policies Struck Down By SCOTUS: What Is First?
After the Supreme Court struck down his tariffs and his birthright-citizenship order, Trump is maneuvering to preserve both rather than accept the rulings as final.
It sets up a second round of litigation and tests how far a president can route around a loss he has already taken at the high court.
How we got here
- The tariffs: In February the Court rejected the emergency-powers tariffs 6-3, holding that the 1977 law Trump invoked did not authorize them.
- The order: In June the Court invalidated the birthright-citizenship order 6-3, holding it cannot stand under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Where things stand
This week the administration invoked the birthright ruling it lost to argue against paying out broad tariff refunds it also lost. Trump signaled he will press new tariffs and new orders rather than treat the decisions as the last word.
The tell is the refund fight. Trump is citing a case he lost to blunt the cost of another case he lost. He is not taking these losses lightly. Whether he can evade the SCOTUS ruling is in doubt, but surely he can inflict tremendous cost and litigation on these issues along the way.
-The Editors
Politics, Liberty · Upstream of the Swamp · August 12, 2026
