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The Hill
a day ago
- Business
- The Hill
Supreme Court won't decide whether to take up Trump's tariffs before summer recess
The Supreme Court on Friday refused two small businesses' request to announce before the court's upcoming summer recess if it will take up their challenge to President Trump's emergency tariffs. Stressing the tariffs' sweeping impacts on the economy, the businesses are asking the justices to take up their challenge now rather than let it proceed through the lower courts in normal course. The justices have yet to decide whether they will do so. But in a brief order Friday, they refused the businesses' additional ask to expedite consideration so an announcement can be made before the summer recess, now just days away. That demand for speed was aimed at having the Supreme Court hear oral arguments as soon as September in the case, which concerns whether Trump can invoke an emergency law to justify his reciprocal 'Liberation Day' tariffs and others imposed on China, Canada and Mexico. By denying the request to expedite, the justices sided with the Trump administration in the procedural fight. The administration had told the court expediting 'makes little sense' and signaled it should wait for another case challenging Trump's tariffs, which is working its way through a separate appeals court. 'Once that Federal Circuit issues its decision, this Court would likely have an opportunity to determine whether to grant certiorari — and, if so, to hear the case during the October 2025 Term. That case would be a better vehicle than this one for resolving the question presented,' Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court filings. The non-expedited schedule provides Sauer until mid-July to file the government's court papers formally asking the justices to turn away the current case. The businesses, Learning Resources and hand2mind, and their attorneys at law firm Akin will then have up to two weeks to file a reply brief. However, the justices generally hold petitions that become fully briefed over the summer until the start of the Supreme Court's next annual term in October. The government in its opposition reminded the justices they 'could release an order granting certiorari during the summer.'
E&E News
03-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Supreme Court requests DOJ input in utility antitrust petition
The Supreme Court is asking for the Justice Department's input on whether it should take up an antitrust case involving two southern utilities that could have broader implications for how courts evaluate business competition. On Monday, the justices invited Solicitor General D. John Sauer to file a brief on the case Duke Energy Carolinas v. NTE Carolinas II LLC. Duke Energy is aiming to overturn a 2024 lower bench ruling finding that a combination of actions the electric power company had taken involving Florida-based power supplier NTE could qualify as anticompetitive. At least four justices have to vote to take up a case. The solicitor general's view of the dispute's nationwide significance can be an important factor in deciding whether the justices will grant a petition. Advertisement The North Carolina-based company claims that a decision allowing a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to stand could revive a dormant legal theory that could open the door to more litigation among competing companies.
The Hill
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Morning Report — Trump sprints to the high court with emergency appeals
Editor's note: The Hill's Morning Report is our daily newsletter that dives deep into Washington's agenda. To subscribe, click here or fill out the box below. Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here In today's issue: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to immediately intercede to allow the government to lay off thousands of federal workers in a sweeping plan that was blocked by a district court judge. The administration's race to the high court with an emergency appeal was another example of its eagerness to test the reach of President Trump's authority and prove what it called 'ongoing and severe harm' to the executive branch, based on its view of a 'flawed' lower court ruling. The idea that the government requires congressional authorization to carry out personnel decisions in agencies and departments is an 'indefensible premise,' argued U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer. It was the administration's 18th Supreme Court emergency appeal since January and the second time the federal layoffs dispute reached the justices. A district court previously barred the president from implementing reductions in force across 21 federal agencies and prevented the administration from placing employees in those agencies on leave. COURTING JUSTICES: Part of Trump's plan at the outset of his second term was to lean on the conservative Supreme Court majority while he asserted his executive power across two branches of government, each controlled by Republicans. He has publicly lobbied justices to help 'save America' by backing his policies amid dozens of legal challenges taken up by federal judges questioning the constitutionality or statutory interpretations of Trump's actions. The president and conservative supporters have railed against nationwide injunctions issued by lower court judges, even temporary ones. Trump has urged impeachment of federal judges who challenge his policies, a development publicly assailed by Chief Justice John Roberts. The Supreme Court this term has been center stage in an unusually brisk and high-stakes legal and political drama in which its rulings test the limits of Americans' trust in the courts and willingness to abide by verdicts perceived through the lens of politics. June usually means the approaching conclusion of the Supreme Court's term amid a crush of consequential rulings in cases argued since the first Monday in October. But the justices are increasingly juggling emergency challenges related to administration policies, NBC News reports. The Hill: Supreme Court decisions and top cases to watch. Separately, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear two cases that challenged separate bans in Maryland and Rhode Island on so-called AR-15-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, a blow to conservatives who turned to the high court after lower courts upheld the state bans. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch disagreed with the majority's decision. The weapons issue may be back in the next 'term or two,' suggested Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The Hill: Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, venture capitalist Michael Rothenberg,cardiologist Michael Jones and radio host and lawyer Warren Ballentine, who unsuccessfully sought pardons from former President Biden for non-violent federal offenses, used an op-ed to argue the former president's clemency decisions should be re-examined amid fresh debate over his mental sharpness while in office. The Hill: GOP senators predict the Supreme Court will resolve whether Trump has authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad tariffs. Privately, senators concede their lives would be easier if the courts put a stop to the president's global trade war, which he conceived to take aim at China. The president on Monday turned to Truth Social to defend U.S. tariffs and to argue that 'Economic ruination' would result if courts intercede. SMART TAKE with NewsNation's BLAKE BURMAN: Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh signaled Monday the high court could soon take up a big case: the constitutionality of AR-15 rifle bans. The court declined to take up a case involving Maryland's AR-15 ban this term, but Kavanaugh wrote the court 'should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next term or two.' NewsNation legal contributor Jesse Weber told me he believes Kavanaugh is right. 'Not only will they hear it, they have to hear it,' Weber said. 'There is so much confusion across courts about 'When is a gun regulation unconstitutional?'' Get ready to see this case in the high court at some point in the coming years. Burman hosts 'The Hill' weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. 3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY: ▪ The remains of dust clouds that blew out of the Sahara Desert and stretched for thousands of miles through the Caribbean are expected to hit Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi late this week and into the weekend. Allergy sufferers beware. ▪ Join The Hill's Wednesday half-day summit, 'Invest in America,' at 8 a.m. EDT featuring titans from Washington and Wall Street. Participants share insights about economic developments, tariffs, artificial intelligence, crypto, taxes and more. RSVP HERE. ▪ Also on Wednesday, check out The Hill's Open Mic 'Across the Aisle' with former Senate leaders Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.). Live stream starts at 2 p.m.; register HERE. LEADING THE DAY © Associated Press | Patrick Semansky DEFICIT? WHAT DEFICIT? Republicans are using Congress's official budget scorer as a whipping boy as they argue a major package of Trump's tax priorities advancing in Capitol Hill is costless, write The Hill's Aris Folley and Tobias Burns. Multiple projections, however, place the plan's price tag at trillions of dollars over the next decade. While the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has yet to release a final estimate of Republican's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' Republicans have increased the attacks on the nonpartisan office over its cost projections of the party's tax cuts plan — which seeks to permanently lock in expiring provisions in Trump's 2017 tax plan, along with a host of other add-ons. 'The CBO sometimes gets projections correct, but they're always off every single time when they project economic growth,' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — on a mission to sell the bill to his own party — said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' asserting the bill 'is going to reduce the deficit.' Trump on Monday emphasized that he wants the bill on his desk before the Fourth of July. 'With the Senate coming back to Washington today, I call on all of my Republican friends in the Senate and House to work as fast as they can to get this Bill to MY DESK before the Fourth of JULY,' Trump said in a lengthy post selling his megabill. The CBO won't release a final growth projection for the GOP bill until later this week. However, the agency projected earlier this year that real gross domestic product will grow at an average rate of 1.8 percent annually over the next decade if current law remains unchanged. Economists, meanwhile, are questioning the GOP bill, which — contrary to typical spending patterns — would add trillions to the national debt at a time when unemployment is low and the economy is solid by most measures. Experts warn that could make it harder to respond to future crises. 'I'm extraordinarily concerned about the fiscal implications of this,' David H. Romer, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, told The New York Times. 'We're starting from high levels of debt, high levels of deficits, projected growing budgetary pressure from an aging population. And the investors are already jittery about this, so this is not just hypothetical.' ▪ The New York Times: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) isn't using 'nice words' about life under Trump. The Alaska senator has no qualms about criticizing the president. She could play a make-or-break role in pushing back on the legislation carrying his agenda. ▪ The Washington Post: Congressional Republicans are pursuing changes to the Affordable Care Act that would mean 10.7 million fewer Americans using its insurance marketplaces and Medicaid. ▪ Politico: Insurers, states warn of Obamacare chaos due to the GOP megabill. SALT-Y DEBATES: Among the most controversial provisions in the GOP megabill is the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, which has fractured the Republican conference and faces an uncertain path ahead in the Senate. After members of the SALT Caucus threatened to spike the entire bill last week, House Republicans agreed to raise the cap to $40,000 from $10,000, quadrupling the deduction that was unlimited prior to Trump's 2017 tax law. On the surface, writes The Hill's Burns, the SALT cap is controversial because it's a tax break that benefits wealthier Americans in more affluent coastal states. However, those richer states tend to pay more in federal taxes than they get back in public services, effectively making them subsidizers of the poorer, typically Republican states that are seeking to make them pay higher taxes. WHERE AND WHEN ZOOM IN © Associated Press | Mark Schiefelbein PUSHING OUT THE OLD GUARD: A growing number of young Democrats have launched primary bids against the party's older members in recent months, underscoring the generational tensions that burst into the open following former Vice President Kamala Harris's defeat in November. Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) this week drew a primary challenger 50 years his junior in Harry Jarin, who cast the long-serving lawmaker as representative of 'a bygone era.' He follows a number of other young candidates who have filed to run or formally launched primary bids against veteran Democratic lawmakers. The Hill's Julia Mueller reports the trend comes amid renewed anxiety within the party over the issue of age, a development spurred by new revelations about Biden and the recent deaths of a number of older House members. 'Six members of Congress have died in the last 16 months, and all of them were Democrats over age 65,' Jarin told The Hill. 'So, I mean, I don't see how you can look at the situation and not say, 'Hey, we have a serious problem.'' ▪ Politico: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is running for mayor in New York City, and he's planning a national campaign to take on Trump — whose Department of Justice is reportedly investigating him. ▪ The Washington Post: Black Democrats fume over 2024 while 'searching for a leader' in 2028. ▪ The Hill: Sen. Joni Ernst's (R-Iowa) weekend town hall blooper inspired a Democratic challenger. Ernst pushed back against constituents who shouted that cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would cause people to die. 'Well, we are all going to die,' the senator responded. ▪ NBC News: New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado launched a Democratic primary challenge against Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday. IMMIGRATION: Trump and his administration are leaning into immigration and Biden's border policies in the wake of an attack in Boulder, Colo., that targeted a pro-Israel gathering. Trump's response to the attack so far has been to largely blame his predecessor, calling out Biden for what he deems a 'ridiculous open border policy.' The suspect, Mohamed Soliman, has been charged with a federal hate crime after he allegedly yelled 'Free Palestine' as he was attacking the group, injuring multiple people with Molotov cocktails. Some Jewish groups as well as lawmakers are criticizing the Trump White House's response, saying it doesn't focus enough on preventing antisemitic attacks in the U.S., especially as Jewish Americans increasingly become targets as the war between Israel and Hamas wages on. The Hill: The simmering tensions between the Trump administration and House Democrats are threatening to boil over after agents of the Department of Homeland Security forced their way into the office of Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). ELSEWHERE © Associated Press | Oleg Petrasiuk, Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade HELLO, GOODBYE: Ukraine and Russia's Monday negotiations in Istanbul proved to be brief. The two sides agreed on a prisoner exchange — and little else. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Russia did not agree to an unconditional truce — Kyiv's central demand — or a bilateral meeting between the two countries' leaders. Expectations were low before the talks started, as both sides remain deeply divided on how to end the war that has been raging since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Meanwhile, the effects of Ukraine's weekend barrage of drone attacks on Russia's bomber fleet — nicknamed 'Operation Spiderweb' and planned over the course of 18 months — is still becoming clear. Ukraine was able to plant drones on Russian soil, just miles away from military bases, and on Sunday attack five different regions in Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 40 Russian aircraft, or 34 percent of Moscow's strategic cruise missile carriers, were hit. Ukraine's security service, the SBU, put the estimated cost to the Kremlin at $7 billion. ▪ The Guardian: Operation Spiderweb: a visual guide to Ukraine's destruction of Russian aircraft. ▪ The New York Times: Ukraine hid attack drones in Russia. These videos show what happened next. ▪ The Hill: Senate Republicans are growing increasingly antsy to move their Russia sanctions package as they await the green light from Trump and fighting continues to escalate in the region. IRAN: Contradicting public statements from top administration officials, the nuclear deal proposal the U.S. presented to Iran on Saturday would allow limited low-level uranium enrichment for a to-be-determined period of time, Axios reports. Both White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said publicly that the U.S. will not allow Iran to enrich uranium and will demand Tehran fully dismantle its nuclear facilities. But the draft proposal shows far more flexibility on both points. 'Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!' Trump wrote on social media on Monday. Addressing the seeming contradiction, a White House official said Trump was speaking the 'cold, hard truth.' Meanwhile, Iranian, Egyptian and United Nations leaders met in Cairo on Monday to discuss Iran's nuclear program after a report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Iran is further increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium. ▪ The New York Times: For 18 months, Hamas has pushed for a permanent truce in Gaza while Israel has held out for a temporary one. That wide gap has stymied efforts to end the war. ▪ ABC News: At least 27 people were killed and more than 90 injured by Israeli forces as they waited to collect humanitarian aid at a distribution center in southern Gaza on Tuesday morning. OPINION ■ Antisemitism does not respect national borders, by The Washington Post editorial board. ■ Save us, senators, from a very expensive mistake, by Robinson Meyer, contributing opinion writer, The New York Times. THE CLOSER © Associated Press | John Leicester And finally … 🐈🐈⬛ Do your cats really know you? Whether your feline friends have insight into your hopes and dreams is debatable. But a new study suggests that they can identify a specific thing about you — your scent. The study, published in the journal PLOS One, established that cats respond differently to the scents of their owners than to the odors of strangers. The findings, derived from smell tests with 30 cats, suggest your four-legged friend knows what you smell like, in addition to what you look and sound like. Carlo Siracusa, an associate professor of animal behavior at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine who was not involved with the study, told The New York Times the logistical feat of designing a study protocol deemed acceptable by its feline participants was remarkable. 'I really commend this group of scientists for being successful in engaging 30 cats in doing this stuff,' Siracusa said. 'Most cats want nothing to do with your research.' Stay Engaged We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger (asimendinger@ and Kristina Karisch (kkarisch@ Follow us on social platform X: (@asimendinger and @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends.
Epoch Times
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Trump Asks Supreme Court to Remove Block on Mass Firings
President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal judge blocked his executive order aimed at preparing agencies for firings otherwise known as 'reductions in force.' 'That injunction rests on the indefensible premise that the President needs explicit statutory authorization from Congress to exercise his core Article II authority to superintend the internal personnel decisions of the Executive Branch,' U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said in an emergency application on June 2.
Axios
21-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Musk's DOGE asks Supreme Court to shield it from transparency lawsuit
The Department of Government Efficiency asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to block a lower court's order that it provide a government watchdog group with documents about its work. Why it matters: The request is a retreat from Elon Musk's November vow that DOGE would provide " maximum transparency" as it set about firing thousands of federal workers, ending billions in spending and attempting to eliminate entire agencies. Driving the news: Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in a Wednesday filing to the Supreme Court that DOGE should be exempted from the Freedom of Information Act because it is an advisory body and not a federal agency. A federal district court judge ruled in March that DOGE is likely subject to the sunshine law because it has "substantial independent authority" from the president — the legal test for determining whether FOIA applies. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had sued DOGE, seeking records of its involvement in mass firings of federal workers. What they're saying: The government in its request to the Supreme Court said the district court's ruling "turns FOIA on its head" because the judge ordered the requested documentation be produced before making a final determination on whether the open records law even applies in this instance. "And that order clearly violates the separation of powers, subjecting a presidential advisory body to intrusive discovery and threatening the confidentiality and candor of its advice, putatively to address a legal question that never should have necessitated discovery in this case at all." The government is asking the Supreme Court to halt the district court's order. The other side:" While DOGE continues to attempt to fight transparency at every level of justice, we look forward to making our case that the Supreme Court should join the District Court and Court of Appeals in allowing discovery to go forward," CREW said in a statement emailed to Axios.
