Kavanaugh in dissent: Bad policy or not, Trump's tariffs were 'clearly lawful'
Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Jr., Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images On Friday, a 6-3 SCOTUS majority struck down the bulk of President Trump's tariffs. Three conservative justices, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, issued a pair of dissenting opinions. See why they said Trump's tariffs are perfectly legal. Three conservative justices of the US Supreme Court — Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito — broke with the majority Friday, arguing that President Donald Trump had clear authority to impose his sweeping tariff policy. The three dissenting justices said the president's tariffs were perfectly legal under the 1970-era law Trump used that says presidents can "regulate" importation in the case of emergencies. "The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy," Kavanaugh wrote. "But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful." The three justices also not...