The tariff decision was disappointing in some ways, but note that a far more important question is raised by Gorsuch.
... There is a question about whether Congress even has the power to delegate its constitutional powers. Prior rulings that it can do this is what empowered the gigantic leviathan state we now live in. Some people want to overturn that system of congressional delegation of the powers the Constitution grants solely to it.
Gorsuch wants to know why the liberal justices want to read this and only this statute of being incapable of granting the president congressional powers, while permitting every other statute to delegate equal powers to the president. He seems to want to go further and overturn the entire system of Congress granting the Executive law-making power so it can churn out Infinite Laws, and mocks the majority for keeping that system in place while finding a violation only with Trump's use of congressionally-delegated power....
Congress will resist that because (as we have often said here) Congress does NOT want responsibility for the laws they pass. That is exactly why they push off the decisions to "experts." Congress knows that many of those decisions will inflict a lot of pain on a lot of taxpayers--and will be offensive to people who have a Christian moral compass--so they point to the "experts", shrug their shoulders, and ask for more money for their next campaign.
That's not cynicism. That's experience speaking.
One more thing: Trump's kvetching does not help Trump. But it does underline the hypocrisy of previous SCOTUS decisions (the EPA's authority, e.g.) He kvetches precisely to highlight the problem.
Hypocrisy? Damn straight. Kavanaugh sees it, just like we all do:
... In his dissent, Kavanaugh mocks the Roberts majority for upholding Biden’s lawless vaccine mandate for government employs while arguing that a law giving the president authority to regulate—and even fully ban (equivalent to an infinite tariff)—all imports somehow doesn’t give him authority to levy non-infinite tariffs....
In my real life, I've often asked others "What does Common Sense have to do with (fill in the blank)?". That applies to government regulations AND private-company asininities.
Should we accuse Roberts et al of political chicanery here?
Maybe. But Roberts lost all his creds on the Obozo "Tax" ruling. He should have been tarred and feathered then, but he is too convenient a fool for Congress to take him down.
1 comment:
While the Constitution vests all federal legislative power in Congress, the Supreme Court has long recognized that Congress may delegate authority to the executive branch and administrative agencies, provided it sets an "intelligible principle". Although the "nondelegation doctrine" suggests Congress cannot transfer its core powers, in practice, this has rarely been enforced, allowing significant delegation.
Since 1928, the Court has upheld delegations if Congress provides an "intelligible principle" to guide the agency's discretion. Chief Justice Marshall recognized in 1825 that Congress cannot delegate powers "strictly and exclusively legislative," yet in a complex society, delegation is seen as necessary for effective governance.
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