Vance called the Supreme Court ruling ‘lawlessness’, but two of the justices who voted against Trump were hand-picked by Trump himself

The Supreme Court struck down a significant portion of President Trump’s tariffs on Friday, dealing a major blow to his economic policies. The decision quickly drew strong reactions from the White House and beyond.

According to The Hill, Vice President Vance was quick to condemn the ruling, calling it “lawlessness from the Court, plain and simple” in a post on X. He argued the decision would make it harder for the president to protect American industries and ensure supply chain resiliency, though he noted that a “wide range of other tariff powers” are still available to the president.

President Trump also spoke out at the White House, saying he was “ashamed of certain members of the court.” Notably, two of the six justices who formed the majority opinion, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, were appointed by Trump himself. He did not spare them from criticism, saying, “I don’t want to say whether I regret nominating them. I think their decision was terrible. I think it’s an embarrassment to their families.”

The ruling reflects broader concerns about executive overreach on trade policy

The court’s majority ruled against the Trump administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose steep tariffs on various countries. This law is meant to give the president power to regulate imports in response to “unusual and extraordinary” threats, but the court found its use here went beyond its intended scope.

Lawmakers from both parties had already raised concerns about using IEEPA for tariffs, pointing to Congress’s constitutional authority over federal taxation. This tension is part of a wider pattern of GOP lawmakers breaking ranks with Trump on key executive power issues.

A Senate resolution calling for an end to Trump’s tariffs passed last fall with strong bipartisan support. A February poll also found that 67 percent of Americans supported the Supreme Court overturning these tariff policies.

From an economic standpoint, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that U.S. businesses and consumers ended up paying about 90 percent of the costs of these tariffs. This directly contradicted the White House’s earlier claims that foreign countries would bear most of the financial burden.

Several prominent Republican lawmakers also came out in support of the ruling. Kentucky’s Republican Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, both of whom voted for the Senate resolution last October, praised the decision. Senator Paul, who sponsored that resolution, called the ruling a “defense of our Republic” in a post on X.

Senator McConnell said the court’s decision leaves “no room for doubt” about Congress’s constitutional authority over tariffs, adding that “Congress’ role in trade policy, as I have warned repeatedly, is not an inconvenience to avoid.”

He made clear that if the executive branch wants to enact trade policies affecting American producers and consumers, its path forward is “crystal clear: convince their representatives under Article 1.” Meanwhile, Trump has faced scrutiny on other fronts too, including Trump’s comments on Prince Andrew’s arrest drawing widespread attention this week.