2020 was a big year for the Supreme Court as it repeatedly handed when after when to the Trump administration.

Emergency orders, also known as the shadow docket, let President Donald Trump keep his tariffs in place,

withhold foreign aid, and conduct immigration raids largely based on racial

profiling. But lawsuits filed by complainants mean that many of these cases will be ultimately

decided in the new year. Hot-button issues such as transgender athletes in sports, whether

birthright citizenship is a constitutional right, and if redistricting

efforts in Louisiana have effectively disenfranchised voters are among many impactful decisions

we expect to hear in 26.

Hello and welcome to USA Today is The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, December 31st, 2025.

For more on the issues on the table and how these decisions might reshape life in America,

I'm now joined by USA Today Justice Department correspondent, Aisha Bakshi. Thanks for being here, Aisha.

Thanks, Dana. I'm happy to be here.

Let's start with the centerpiece of Trump's economic agenda, whether or not Trump imposed

tariffs are legal or were an overreach of power. The court heard arguments on both sides in November.

What did they say? This is a case that really deals with the centerpiece of President Trump's

agenda, this term sweeping tariffs that he's imposed on countries around the world.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in this, and they seemed to be a little skeptical of what

the president has done here. They seem to be indicating, you know, not just the liberal

justices on the court, but some members of the conservative majority on the court seem to be a bit

skeptical and to think that President Trump may have overstepped. When it comes to these tariffs,

President Trump is turning to a law from 1977 that gives the president the authority to regulate what's called

importation in response to an extraordinary threat. Donald Trump has pointed to that law,

...