62: Supreme Court Arguments on Presidential Tariff Authority and NYC Mayor-Elect. Professor Richard Epstein analyzes Supreme Court arguments regarding the President's expansive use of a 1977 law to impose tariffs, predicting a likely 7-2 ruling against the ad

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 8 November 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

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Summary

Supreme Court Arguments on Presidential Tariff Authority and NYC Mayor-Elect. Professor Richard Epstein analyzes Supreme Court arguments regarding the President's expansive use of a 1977 law to impose tariffs, predicting a likely 7-2 ruling against the administration. Epstein argues that viewing successful worldwide trade as an "emergency" is intellectually flawed and an abuse of executive discretion. Separately, he expresses concern that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist lacking administrative experience, risks impoverishing the city by ignoring competitive federalism.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is CBS, Eye on the World.
0:05.0	I'm John Batchel.
0:06.0	I welcome Professor Richard Epstein, teaches law at NYU in the University of Chicago.
0:11.0	He's at the Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin,
0:15.0	reflecting on the Supreme Court oral arguments for a case that very much will determine the direction of the tariffs
0:24.3	announced by the President of the United States in April of this year.
0:29.2	Richard, a very good evening.
0:30.8	I go to the SCOTUS blog, which I enjoy reading a deal.
0:34.9	It's well written and easy to follow, given the intricacies of courts.
0:40.4	The headline tells the story. Court appears dubious of Trump's tariffs. Otherwise, the word
0:47.6	skeptical appears several times in the presentation to the justices. And if I may, I follow Scotis in reporting that the three justices associated with the left of center,
1:00.8	that would be Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan, expressed doubt about the president's interpretation of a law written in 1977 by Congress
1:12.2	that had a sense of emergency, but at the same time it meant to limit the president's ability
1:18.6	to regulate, that is, to impose tariffs. That law is the one that the president is used
1:24.7	in order to make reciprocal tariffs and also to impose
1:28.9	burdensome tariffs on the basis of fearing fentanyl coming into the United States as a national
1:34.7	security threat. Jackson, Sotomayor, and Kagan were dubious. Then we turned to those who
1:41.7	were not dubious firmly.
1:48.0	According to the oral arguments, which can be misleading, I'm aware of this.
1:57.3	Mr. Thomas and Mr. Alito were not dubious in regard the argument by the Solicitor General, Mr. Sauer, John Sauer.
1:58.6	Yes, that's right.
2:05.5	To be consistent with the powers of the president to deal with foreign affairs,
	...

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