No. of Recommendations: 3
Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com
OK, I *think* I get it. After reading the ruling, my understanding of whether the DC District Court has jurisdiction is based on whether the IEEPA is a "law providing for tariffs." If it IS, then the DC court is not the proper court; the Court of International Trade (CIT) would have jurisdiction. 1/
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social
BREAKING: Judge Contreras has blocked Trump's tariffs as unlawful. This is a *separate* injunction by a federal judge in D.C., unrelated to the block issued yesterday by judges on the federal tr de court. storage
Mueller again: But if the IEEPA does NOT provide for tariffs, then the DC court has jurisdiction to 1) determine its jurisdiction and 2) issue a preliminary injunction if it does have jurisdiction. The judge here in DC finds that the IEEPA does NOT provide for tariffs, so he has jurisdiction. 2/
Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com
The judge says that the text of the IEEPA doesn't mention tariffs. It only says POTUS, in an emergency, can regulate or block imports and exports. Nothing more. And since the power to regulate is NOT the same as the power to tax, then the tariffs are unconstitutional. 3/
Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com
“It would be anomalous,” to say the least, “for
Congress to have so painstakingly described the [President’s] limited authority” on tariffs in
other statutes, “but to have given him, just by implication,” nearly unlimited tariffing authority in
IEEPA." 4/
Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com
So, the fact that the IEEPA doesn't provide for tariffs means the DC circuit has jurisdiction, and since the president can't impose taxes without the approval of congress, the plaintiffs are likely to win on the merits. Hence the Preliminary Injunction. 5/
Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com
If I got any of this wrong, please let me know. Here's the full ruling. END/ storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscour...storage.courtlistener.com
Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com
PS: It's of note that this case was consolidated with the tariff case brought by state attorneys general in an appeal to the Federal Circuit, and
that court has temporarily stayed both tariff rulings: the one from DC District Court and the one from the CIT. 