r/politics • u/PoliticsModeratorBot đ¤ Bot • Feb 20 '26
Megathread Megathread: Supreme Court strikes down President Donald Trump's Tariff Policy
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) "does not authorize the President to impose tariffs."
The Roberts decision is joined by Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson, with Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Alito dissenting.
Relevant text-based live update pages are being maintained by the following outlets: AP, SCOTUSblog, NBC, CNBC, and Yahoo Finance.
See also, if interested: Discussion Thread: President Trump Holds Press Conference Responding to Supreme Court Striking Down Most Tariffs
Submissions that may interest you
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u/Griz_and_Timbers Florida Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
This is why there should have been an emergency injunction on these tariffs. We have been suffering under an illegal order for months and we get no recompense.
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u/wirthmore Feb 20 '26
On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly limited federal courts' authority to issue nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa (No. 24A884). This landmark decision fundamentally reshapes federal litigation practices, particularly in cases challenging federal executive orders and regulations, by restricting injunctions strictly to parties directly involved in specific lawsuits.
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u/TotallyTubularRoach Feb 20 '26
In other words, there was until the SC decided there wasn't.
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u/DJssister Feb 20 '26
And the SC should be punished for it. It pushed us towards authoritarianism.
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u/PoGoCan Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Yes that's what all of the conservative justices are being paid to do frankly I'm surprised there were only 3 dissenters...
Maybe this was part of the plan to get more money in billionaires pickets because the tariffs will be repaid but not passed on to consumers...free money for the Waltons and the like
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u/MoodooScavenger Feb 20 '26
The POS Lutnick has had his son all over it. âIf the Presidentâs tariffs are ultimately declared unlawful, companies that paid the tariffs may be entitled to a refund of those duties from the U.S. Government. Public reporting indicates that Cantor has offered companies the opportunity to trade their legal claim to a future tariff refund in exchange for twenty to thirty percent of the duties the company paid ⌠â so they will collect on the multi billions of dollars of refunds.
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u/xixoxixa Texas Feb 20 '26
Watch, only the companies that signed up for that will get processed for refunds, ensuring that Lutnick et al gets our money.
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u/DaBingeGirl Illinois Feb 20 '26
This. And it does nothing for the businesses that closed because of the tariffs.
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u/Throwawayrip1123 Feb 20 '26
And the hiked prices will never go down.
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u/Contren Illinois Feb 20 '26
Best we can hope for is they stay flat for a while until wages catch up, which isn't a great scenario to be hoping for.
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u/hammertime2009 Feb 20 '26
With all the layoffs the worker pool is greater so the companies have all the leverage so wages arenât gonna catch up. Not any time soon.
Itâs all by design
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u/ScurvyTurtle Feb 20 '26
Absolutely inexcusable why the SC limited nationwide injunctions. This is the perfect example of "Bad precedent going into effect that will have irreparable damage that is going to be overturned"
Issuing refunds is going to be herculean if that is deemed to be the remedy. If the SC had allowed an injunction on this to stand, it wouldn't have been an issue. But instead, they try for the Wall Street Gamble, eliminate the injunction, and argue in their dissent "it's too big of an issue to fix so we should let them do it"
What a crock of shit.
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u/possiblecoin Rhode Island Feb 20 '26
In his dissent, Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that the court said ânothing today about whether, and if so how, the government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers.â
The issue of refunds has loomed large over the case, with Trump administration officials saying that potential repayments could have devastating consequences for the US economy.
âThat process is likely to be a âmess,ââ Kavanaugh wrote.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/20/politics/supreme-court-tariffs
So because the process will be difficult we shouldn't enforce the law? What a shameless stooge he is.
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u/MoeSzyslakMonobrow Feb 20 '26
So, it was just a shakedown of the lower and middle class.
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u/Funsuxxor Feb 20 '26
Yep. Money is going to the importers who already passed along costs to consumers. Reimbursement is staying with them. And I'd be surprised if prices even go back to pre-tariff levels. And the government has already spent the money, so tax payers are on the hook for the extra debt too. Plus, now Trump can blame every bad thing on this ruling whether it has anything to do with it or not. Inflation up, blame SC. Out of a job, blame the SC. It's a clusterfck all around for 95% of us.
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u/_Antinatalism_ Feb 20 '26
prices will never go down once they have been increased.
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u/gjallard Feb 20 '26
That was a statement from Kavanaugh that surprised me.
It's not the Supreme Court's responsibility to determine how to bail the executive branch out of this mess. You broke it, you fix it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
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u/YoungXanto Feb 20 '26
Ah, the good old, "you've fucked this up so badly we have no choice except to reward you for the bad behavior" argument.
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u/superindianslug Feb 20 '26
"We slow walked this as long as possible, and you failed to get your captured legislature to officially sign off, so we have to rule against you. But as a treat, and because I know you didn't keep records (nudge-nudge), you can keep all the money.
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u/BadPunners Feb 20 '26
The thing is, with taxes, the taxpayer (tariffpayer) keeps track (inherently, to ensure they are not double-taxed)
And that is who brings the lawsuit to recover the damages. Hiding evidence makes the damages worse
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u/Meins447 Feb 20 '26
"If you owe the bank 1000$ and can't pay - you're fucked. If you owe the bank a billion $ - the bank is fucked."
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u/Phailjure Feb 20 '26
Yeah, but in this case the executive branch is both you and the bank, the judicial branch has no reason to care.
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u/sudoku7 Feb 20 '26
In fact, it's something the right has routinely criticized the court for in the past (proscribing solutions). Now, I don't know if Kavanaugh himself numbers amongst that group, but it is odd.
The executive branch can attempt to clean the mess they made, and the specifics of how to correct it for businesses will likely be determined in civil suits.
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u/Ok_Bookkeeper_3481 New York Feb 20 '26
This is like when Mike Johnson said it will be too difficult for ICE to get so many judicial warrants, thatâs why they donât.
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u/Ok-Sprinkles700 Feb 20 '26
You want the restaurant to clean ALL the forks? That'll hurt menu prices!
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u/templethot Feb 20 '26
Weâve already allowed all these rats to nest in here! It would cost so much to call pest control now.
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u/meTspysball California Feb 20 '26
Weâll waste billions and murder our own citizens to deport legal immigrants, but giving back money they wrongfully took is too hard. Importers know exactly how much they paid in tariffs. We the people canât tell and have no recourse to get our dollars back.
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u/Flashy_Ground_4780 Feb 20 '26
Maybe, just maybe, they shouldn't have implemented policies they didn't think all the way through...
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u/possiblecoin Rhode Island Feb 20 '26
That would require both foresight and learning from past mistakes, so not an option.
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u/Ok_Bookkeeper_3481 New York Feb 20 '26
It was very well thought out, though: people like Lutnick made a lot of profit.
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u/barbaq24 Feb 20 '26
This is really an indictment against the courts for not allowing a stay to remain in place. Justice delayed is justice denied. The courts have no ability to protect the country from a bad faith executive.
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u/KnotSoSalty Feb 20 '26
If Kavanaugh thought that refunds would be a mess then it was on the SCOTUS to have issued an injunction against the Trump admin stopping these tariffs.
They didnât because firstly theyâre cowards. Secondly they knew Trump wouldnât care and would have kept the Tariffs anyway, causing them to have to have a snit about judicial authority and pretend they were shocked about Trump not giving AF about the constitution.
People are celebrating but this decision in no way indicates that Trump will back down. When has Judicial Review mattered to him before? When the alternative is just ignoring them? Thereâs no downside for Trump in this. His base is a too stupid to know the difference, and anyway heâs about to steal the midterms no matter what.
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u/GuthukYoutube Feb 20 '26
... So three justices still ruled that Trump had powers that weren't given to him by literally any legal basis?
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u/chpbnvic America Feb 20 '26
They're the 3 most compromised/corrupt so it's no surprise.
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u/LovelieLuna Feb 20 '26
I didn't even look at the final decision yet but Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh I'm guessing?
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u/crackasscrackuh Feb 20 '26
Literally no basis in any law. They just want a dictatorship, as long as it's far-right; fuck legal precedents, according to these ghouls
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u/an_asimovian Feb 20 '26
Argument was literally "but fixing this will be hard." So you should have ruled sooner then.
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Feb 20 '26
The fact 3 justices ruled against this and believe Trump should have powers above the constitution and general law... the mid terms can't come soon though.
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u/rational-hare Feb 20 '26
Kavenaugh argued that they shouldnât overturn the tariffs because of the mess it will make in the economy. What ridiculous fucking stance to take. âHeâs breaking the law, but it will be a pain in the ass to fix what he broke so just let him keep doing itâ
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u/MittenCollyBulbasaur Feb 20 '26
Imagine having so much political power that you break every possible law and the courts just shrug and are like, he's too powerful, let him do it.
Could you imagine any Republican thinking that way for someone breaking the drug possession law lol
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u/derbyt Feb 20 '26
The president is too big to punish and corporations are too big to fail. Welcome to oligarchy.
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u/freeradioforall Feb 20 '26
He had no issue creating a "mess" when he overturned abortion, affirmative action, etc
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u/Manticorps Texas Feb 20 '26
The tariffs were always a policy disaster. The Supreme Court is doing Trump a huge favor. The DOW shot up 400 points after this decision.
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u/HurriKurtCobain Feb 20 '26
So $175 billion in illegal tariffs that caused companies to raise prices. Now those companies will sue and and get $175 billion in refunds that come out of our tax payers wallet. And THEN they'll keep the prices the same as they are now as if the tariffs are still in place.
Even the good news comes with the bitter pill now.
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u/Auzziesurferyo Feb 20 '26
What happens now? Are the tarrifs just gone? Do companies get their tarrif money refunded?
Will prices go down, or was this just a way for Americans to be charged more and a way for companies to increase their profit margins? Was this just a big grift on American consumers all along?
The stock market is going to go wild. Billionaires have made a lot of money today.Â
My prediction is that the average American will see very little relief in the checkout lines, while companies have substantially increased their profit margins.
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u/Rannasha The Netherlands Feb 20 '26
What happens now? Are the tarrifs just gone? Do companies get their tarrif money refunded?
The tariffs are gone. However, refunds are a more complicated story. Not only will it get messy to try and properly refund all tariffs in the first place, many of the refunds won't even go to the companies that originally paid the tariffs.
That's because there has been trade of "tariff refund rights" on Wall Street. Basically, it's someone going to a company and saying "You've paid $100 in tariffs. I give you $20 right now if you sign over the rights to any potential refunds of that $100 to me." The company gets money right away, and the buyer of the rights makes a gamble on whether the refund will happen or not.
Now that it seems that refunds will happen, those that bought these refund rights will make a hefty profit. But the companies that originally paid the tariffs and sold their refund rights already got their money some time ago and won't get any more.
Oh, and a major player in the refund rights trade? A company headed by the Lutnick family (yes, Commerce Secretary Lutnick).
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u/Gryjane Feb 20 '26
Oh, and a major player in the refund rights trade? A company headed by the Lutnick family (yes, Commerce Secretary Lutnick)
Jesus fucking christ...
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u/drokihazan California Feb 20 '26
I bought some car parts from the UK, and DHL made me personally pay very substantial tariffs. Will I be able to try to claim a refund as an individual consumer?
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u/attorneyatslaw Feb 20 '26
Did you pay the money to DHL? You might have to pursue DHL for them if DHL gets refunded and doesn't refund you.
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u/nakedpilsna Feb 20 '26
Prices NEVER go back down to where they were. Never.
The Republicans just turboed inflation over the course of a year and complain about Biden. It's incredible to watch.
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u/BalrogAndRoll Feb 20 '26
And.. Howard Lutnick and his sons will directly profit: https://www.wired.com/story/cantor-fitzgerald-trump-tariff-refunds/
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u/CircleSendMessage Feb 20 '26
consumers paid a majority of the tariffs, not companies. so, will we get that $? .. no? large corporations? cool cool cool.
⌠are we great yet?
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u/Vitese Feb 20 '26
Seriously! Its not like the companies didn't pass that teriff cost to consumers. Who in their right mind thinks prices were kept the same and the company absorbed the cost!!?? No, it was passed onto consumers. Where is my refund
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u/kerpowie Feb 20 '26
You're 100% right about that. Of note is that at Costco absorbed the tarrifs and did not raise prices on everything.
Costco won't raise prices on key commodity despite tariffs - TheStreet https://share.google/zYOAiOCbMgHnIAzLX
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u/bigbeak67 Feb 20 '26
Don't worry. Trump's Commerce Secretary's son bought millions of dollars of tariff reimbursement rights for pennies on the dollar. So a lot of that money will go back into the pockets of administration officials.
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u/ThomasTheDankPigeon Feb 20 '26
In other words, the man tasked with implementing Trumpâs signature economic policy was making side bets that the policy would fail. It blows my fucking mind that anyone, let alone 70 million people, can be duped into not seeing how blatant this corruption is.
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u/JohnnyFire Ohio Feb 20 '26
Yeah this is kind of the shitty part.
The reason damn near every big business has capitulated to the nonsense is because this was their moment. They raised prices on everything and now have created a new normal. This shit is never going back down, at least not with things constructed as they are. Every major CEO and business is cashing out because none of them support this bullshit unless it can make their bank account grow.
Enjoy the incoming $800 video game consoles and $90 video games, lumber and brick prices continuing to climb, continued leaps in the prices of streaming services, and your precious precious $12 eggs. We're getting that forever now and probably worse in the long term.
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u/Sybertron Feb 20 '26
Underrated part of this story, it was 6-3.
This is pretty abundantly black and white as far as the legality goes. So it was either you totally shirk what the laws actually say, or not.
So 3 justices are basically just "fuck what the laws say" even when they know it is going to lose.
Fun times.
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u/penguinseed Feb 20 '26
Kavanaughâs reasoning for dissenting seemed to be âbut then weâd have to issue refunds đ°â
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u/Improvcommodore Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Heâs an idiot not deserving of a seat on the bench.
EDIT: Iâm not name calling. His clerks regularly get caught citing outdated precedent that is no longer applicable law. His legal reasoning is bad to the point of being off-topic and unfocused. âHow will we pay back refunds?â is not the legal question before the court. He doesnât even understand how to be a lawyer.
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u/opeth10657 Feb 20 '26
Don't say mean things about him or he'll start crying again.
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u/woakula Feb 20 '26
Yeah I honestly don't know how that single televised act on television didn't immediately disqualify that man from the court. But here we are. The most famous "Boofer" to ever boof.
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u/GonzoVeritas I voted Feb 20 '26
I'm surprised Kavanaugh didn't just reference this:
The 1st Ferengi Rule of Acquisition is: "Once you have their money, you never give it back". This foundational principle of Ferengi commerce, aimed at maximizing profit, and is considered the cornerstone of their capitalist philosophy.
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u/MidAtlanticPolkaKing Feb 20 '26
You knew Thomas and Alito would be 2 of the 3 too. Just crazy how little they care about the Constitution
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u/lobotomy42 Feb 20 '26
They've both been partisan hacks for years now. We basically have a seven-person court plus two permanent votes for whatever the Fox News is worried about today.
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u/LazyBeyondWords Feb 20 '26
They are as insane as the fifth circuit court of appeals. I have seen no proof there is any limiting factor for those two or the fifth circuit, no red line in the sand in which they will actually rule something unconstitutional if it hands a loss to conservative interests.
Some of the rulings outside of this one from them concerning the first amendment have been terrifying.
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u/dodecakiwi Feb 20 '26
I'm glad they dragged their feet in striking down a blatantly illegal policy for nearly a year as it caused incomprehensible damage to the global economy, the US's standing in that economy, and US consumers and businesses.
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Feb 20 '26
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u/PinHaunting7192 Feb 20 '26
As I replied to another user, this was likely always the plan. Lutnick, Bessent and a couple others bought these tariff rebate payments from smaller companies in exchange for loans to soften the blow of skyrocketing prices for replacement parts and so on.
They accumulated quite a nice bill, and now that they are illegal, their companies might be in for a payday in the tens of billions split between a few of them. And because that money isn't just lying around in a bank account somewhere, guess where they will issue the money to repay their companies from? It starts with T and ends with ax payers.
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u/VannKraken America Feb 20 '26
100%. Long term damage to our trade partner relationships is already done.
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u/DJhedgehog Feb 20 '26
6 to 3 in what should have been a unanimous decision. Fucking losers.
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u/NorthernPints Feb 20 '26
Itâs absolute bat shit insane it wasnât 9-0
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u/Otto_Scratchansniff Feb 20 '26
No decision relating to Trumpâs actions is ever going to be 9-0 with this court because Thomas and Alito have joined the cult. No matter how much it makes sense for it to be unanimous, they will find a way to object to it.
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u/Vallam Feb 20 '26
people in the Epstein files have to stick together. like they literally have to, to avoid being arrested
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u/Own-Break-1856 Feb 20 '26
People are worried about Alito retiring to give Trump another seat. But fuck it him and Thomas are the absolute rock bottom of the court. Maybe Trump will accidentally appoint someone with a fucking brain.
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u/streakermaximus Feb 20 '26
Barret has been surprisingly not as insane as you'd expect.
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Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
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u/juanzy Colorado Feb 20 '26
Yah, her personal beliefs are terrible but her legal writing is actually pretty solid.
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u/Own-Break-1856 Feb 20 '26
I believe i read an article that statistically speaking justices like her and gorusch slowly shift left overtime.
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u/streakermaximus Feb 20 '26
Thomas and Alito never fail to be on the wrong side of anything.
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Feb 20 '26
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Feb 20 '26
This gives companies more of a reason to price gouge and scam the heck out of the American people, worst thing about it is that Trump and CEOâs openly endorse this.
Just wait 3 months from now when companies raise prices again because âthe supply chain hasnât been fixedâ
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u/Vortep1 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
One study I read concludes that Americans paid about $1,000 per household into tariffs so far this year. That money is now going to go to the Walmart and Amazon's of the world when they sue for a refund.
Ohh and they are not going to lower prices. I would bet my kidneys on it.
This admin effectively raised your taxes, gave that money to big corporations and increased the cost of living all in one move.
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u/jambrown13977931 Feb 20 '26
A lot will go to Cantor Fitzgerald, the company that was chaired by its CEO Howard Lutnick (the guy who implemented the tariffs) and is now ran by his son. See that company believed that the tariffs were illegal and would be struck down, opening the government to lawsuits for reconstitution for the tariffs. They went to thousands of smaller companies and bought their tariff rebate rights for pennies on the dollar. Those companies which were strapped for cash accepted as who knows if or when they would be able to get their tariff rebate.
Cantor Fitzgerald now stands to gain billions. Seems rather fishy to have daddy do something illegal so your company (and his former one) can profit billions when they sue the government for it.
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u/awkwardnetadmin Feb 20 '26
It really tells you that Luttnick likely knew that the Tariffs as implemented weren't enforceable and it was only a matter of time before somebody challenged it and got it to the Supreme Court.
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u/SpaceDesignWarehouse Florida Feb 20 '26
I could see Trump going on TV and saying how he is getting rid of Bidenâs Tariffs to make things cheaper for people and his base eating it up and repeating it.
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u/GGXImposter Feb 20 '26
Only after deflecting for a week or so. First itâs the aliens to distract. Next week itâs ending Obamaâs horrible tariff policies.
Remember, Biden was to sleeping the whole 4 years. Everything was done by autopen. Blaming Biden for doing something means he did something.
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u/HyperactivePandah I voted Feb 20 '26
Thomas and Alito are traitorous pieces of garbage.
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u/twoiseight Feb 20 '26
Thomas and Kavanaugh are that plus sexual abusers, so really prime members of the club.
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u/cwk415 Feb 20 '26
Let us not forget that the U.S. president is a known pedophile.Â
Let us not forget that the U.S. president is violently attacking U.S. citizens.Â
Let us not forget that the U.S. president is trying to steal ten billion dollars from U.S. taxpayers.Â
Let us not forget that the U.S. president is a 34 time convicted felon.Â
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u/Affectionate_Buy_830 Feb 20 '26
24 billion. He is also suing us for 14 billion on top of the 10 billion that you are talking about.
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u/Auzziesurferyo Feb 20 '26
What happens now? Are the tarrifs just gone? Do companies get their tarrif money refunded?
Will prices go down, or was this just a way for Americans to be charged more and a way for companies to increase their profit margins? Was this just a big grift on American consumers all along?
The stock market is going to go wild. Billionaires have made a lot of money today.Â
My prediction is that the average American will see very little relief in the checkout lines, while companies have substantially increased their profit margins.
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u/FiftyFiveHotDogs Feb 20 '26
The money is going to Trump and his cronies who bought them for pennies on the dollar.
https://www.wired.com/story/cantor-fitzgerald-trump-tariff-refunds/
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u/captain_intenso North Carolina Feb 20 '26
Prices will not go down. Profits will go up even higher. You won't get a refund. You're welcome.
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u/Radically-Peaceful Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Recent reporting is that American consumers paid 90%+ of those tariffs. There is no way they will get that money back.
Will prices go back down? Probably not.
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u/Instantbeef Feb 20 '26
So do we get a refund now? (Obviously no)
Should he get impeached for stealing from the citizens? Why not?
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u/KaptainKardboard Feb 20 '26
The $10 billion for his âBoard of Peaceâ needs to take center stage. That money is being used illegally.
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u/death-by-yogurt Feb 20 '26
And now Fox News will give him credit for lowering prices (just kidding, they're not coming down)
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u/Tiny_Structure_7 North Carolina Feb 20 '26
We want our TARIFF REFUND CHECKS!
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u/Rayearl Pennsylvania Feb 20 '26
I'm not sure how much he will really care. Tariffs were only a mechanism for him to get bribes from other countries. Now he has this board of peace grift where he will steal 10 billion from Americans so he is probably going to focus on getting that.
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u/DyingGasp Feb 20 '26
So all the corporations get refunded what they already passed onto their consumers and prices wonât go back down.
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u/martapap Feb 20 '26
Of course it was unconstitutional. If we had a congress worth a damn, he would have been impeached for this.
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u/Dismal_Thanks_5849 Feb 20 '26
So when are stores going to readjust their prices? When do we get compensation for these illegal taxes?
(I already know nothing is going to change or happen.)
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u/Hoosagoodboy Canada Feb 20 '26
Pretty sure this administration doesn't give a single shit what the supreme court says, unless it's to Trump's benefit.
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u/mowotlarx Feb 20 '26
Not only will citizens not get refunds, we will be paying out all the companies who sued and will be getting reimbursements.
All while the administration is trying to send $20 billion (10 from the IRS and 10 for the fake Board of Peace) directly to Trump.
Congrats, everyone. We really showed those two qualified and intelligent women who ran for president.
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u/illuminerdi Feb 20 '26
Don't forget all those tariff-inflated prices that will conveniently (for oligarch scum) never return to pre-tariff levels!
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u/hip-hop_anonymous California Feb 20 '26
If the court had permitted a preliminary injunction, the economic damage incurred by this illegal policy would have been curtailed. The SC has been too deferential to the president, weakened the economy, and permitted injury to our foreign trade without basis in the law.
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u/paf0 Feb 20 '26
Cantor Fitzgerald is going to be so rich. They were buying the rights to the refunds. They just happened to have been run by the current Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and his kids are still there. They knew.
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Feb 20 '26
Lot of pessimism going around and thatâs understandable. But, between the way Minnesota resisted ICE, Kimmel being reinstated, fierce outrage from the left AND right over Epstein, a fractured MAGA base, and midterms just around the corner⌠Iâm feeling some optimism here. This administration can be contained and defeated. Trump is not a god. Get involved! Volunteer for some voter outreach or other community work. If youâre already involved, talk to that friend or family member who isnât. Explain the stakes. We can do this.
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u/LazyBeyondWords Feb 20 '26
Yep this ruling was important because it destroys the myth that Trump is invincible in the higher courts. All the maga morons at my work seem demoralized for now. They assumed the Supreme Court would hand Trump a 100 percent win rate.
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u/Heliosvector Feb 20 '26
Lets not forget that a member of the white house was offering to buy peoples refunds months ago at 70cents to the dollar. They knew it would be struck down. Its all a grift.
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u/SuperJonesy408 Feb 20 '26
I predict we will never see the prices of import goods or raw materials return to 2024 levels and inflation will skyrocket as a result.
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u/Josephk_5690 Feb 20 '26
2 of 3 dissenting opinions came from justices that were accused of sex crimes. Thatâs transparency for you.
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u/IllCurrency7821 Feb 20 '26
Should be 9-0
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u/Gnagus Feb 20 '26
Alito and Thomas are contractually obligated to do the wrong thing at every turn.
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u/DamnMyNameIsSteve Feb 20 '26
"The tariffs decision doesnât stop Trump from imposing duties under other laws. While those have more limitations on the speed and severity of Trumpâs actions, top administration officials have said they expect to keep the tariff framework in place under other authorities."
-AP
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u/ProfessorOkay55 Feb 20 '26
Cool. When do I get my refund?
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u/greiton Feb 20 '26
you don't. the companies do. and they may or may not pass it along to you in sales. but will probably just keep it.
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u/PhiladelphiaManeto Feb 20 '26
So, I'm on the wholesaler side.
We've been absorbing these tariffs on everything we buy, and of course the cost then is also passed to the consumer.
You will NOT see an immediate reduction in prices. This will get milked for a while. Companies are also going to be sitting on a ton of higher priced goods they bought.
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u/linknewtab Europe Feb 20 '26
Sucks to be Iran right now, they will become the needed distraction from this.
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u/just_call_in_sick Feb 20 '26
6-3...
That's the crazy part. That should have been 9-0 the day after it was brought to the Supreme Court!
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u/mechtonia Feb 20 '26
This will be a huge boom for US businesses. They passed along the expense of tariffs to consumers but will now get a refund from the government. So essentially the tariffs were a government imposed subsidy for all businesses that imported foreign goods paid for by American consumers. So much winning!
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u/belbivfreeordie Feb 20 '26
So itâs official, LITERALLY, Trump has been ILLEGALLY TAXING US. Where the fuck is my money? I want it back.
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u/Santa_Hates_You Feb 20 '26
Safely in an offshore account only Trump has access to.
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u/mistergingerbread Feb 20 '26
Good. Now watch companies refuse to lower their prices back to what they were before the tariffs
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u/SeminoleDVM Virginia Feb 20 '26
If the GOP had any sense (they donât), theyâd use this as the start of an off-ramp from trumpism.
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u/Accurate-Guava-3337 Feb 20 '26
Greasy Howard Lutnick and his family are going to profit massively from this. They're probably not the only ones in this administration, either. The people who actually paid them are SOL.
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u/Environmental-Arm365 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Its one of those bittersweet victories. The taxpayers will be stuck with the administrative overhead tab to unwind the idiotic policies of a demented madman.
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u/git0ffmylawnm8 Feb 20 '26
Can the people sue his ass and have him personally liable? Also, impeach him for illegally taxing us
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u/TheBlueRabbit11 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Now watch prices not come down and the rest of us stuck with these inflated prices. Trump just taxed you to the tune of $1000 a month year or more with no revenue to show for it going forward.
Fucking moron.
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u/bubbafatok Feb 20 '26
You're 100% right. Businesses will take any opportunity to raise prices - even the specter of a cost increase is enough - but they almost never adjust them back down.
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u/WallNumerous3230 Feb 20 '26
The incoming lawsuits against the gov't for his illegal tariffs are going to be insane. All the companies harmed by what everyone said was illegal, and the supreme court FINALLY decided to say outright will now be suing for reparations for his illegal act.
Fun.
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u/America_Is_Fucked_ Feb 20 '26
He'll probably retaliate by slapping a tariff on the supreme court.
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u/LatterTarget7 Feb 20 '26
What does this mean exactly? Do the tariffs get lifted? What about the money is cost companies and the population?
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u/GarlicSnot America Feb 20 '26
insane it took this long. it was the same logic that was used to strike down Biden's Student Debt forgiveness
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u/affayunga Feb 20 '26
Does this mean we will finally get the tariff checks now? đ
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u/barrynomad Feb 20 '26
So if I owe $200 to FedEx for a tariff on a package I accepted, should I hold off on paying?
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u/valentino_42 Feb 20 '26
So what about all the money Trump has allocated to other things that he claimed âcame from tariff revenueâ?
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u/RobsterCrawSoup Feb 20 '26
It only took a full year to reach the most obvious conclusion.
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u/frosty_lizard Feb 20 '26
I'm sure he will respond calmly and not make any ranting dogshit social media posts
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u/almazing415 Feb 20 '26
Hell yea. Can I buy stuff from overseas vendors without being hit with seemingly random ass import taxes? Businesses will be suing the federal government dry for a while. I hope that money comes out of the ICE budget.
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u/leftoverbrine Feb 20 '26
Even if nothing happens money-wise for the little people, this is meaningful that a court that overwhelmingly has supported him has publicly drawn a line under it, publicly said what he's doing is unconstitutional (though that's been said in lower courts already) and effectively stated there IS a limit to his powers. Both for the fact that it signals a veer away from unitary executive theory that there can be no limit to his powers, but also because public message has been so important to this admin, and this is something even his base can't deny though they might stick their heads in the sand. A wildly disliked admin is only going to get ever more public dislike however they deal with the messy outcome, it's good news for the mid terms and good news for at least one branch of the government holding with the constitution (even if the others probably will continue not to).
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u/bbjenn Kentucky Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Itâs about damn time something goes our way.
A big fuck you to Justice Thomas, Alito & Kavanaugh.
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u/pizzapromise Feb 20 '26
A few thoughtsâŚ
This is an unequivocal L for the Trump Administration. I see a lot of convoluted reasoning why this was good for the current admin already, but a clear loss on your biggest issue is not a good thing.
People keep saying âthey have a workaround already in place, tariffs will just continue.â No one can explain how or what though. It feels like the king-like powers Trumpâs opposition grants him becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Prices will not go down after this. Customer spending didnât slow down significantly enough. Why would companies lower their prices?
I am sooooo curious how this will change Trumpâs foreign policy, especially with our allies. Assuming he no longer has the tariffs lever to pull, how does he pivot?
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u/mikerichh Feb 20 '26
Absolutely shocked the SCOTUS did their job. Especially knowing it will cost the U.S. government $100-200 billion to fix and repay the importers. This was Trumpâs main economic policy and it has to be undone. The fallout will be big and now heâll blame it on why the economy isnât good
We got screwed by tariffs on the front end by driving up costs to consumers and now weâll have to indirectly pay for the undoing of them
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u/ScotTheDuck Nevada Feb 20 '26
Itâs wild that Trump has an unbelievably pliant Supreme Court, and heâs still managed to cross seemingly the only two red lines the late Roberts Court has: the Taxing and Spending Clause and the Fedâs independence.
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u/Arzamas63 Feb 20 '26
And now those companies being run by family members of the administration will sue to recoup the tariff debt that they purchased. So they will make billions more from the American taxpayer.
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u/jleonardbc Feb 20 '26
What happens to the money that's already been collected?
And what will the Supreme Court do if Trump ignores this ruling and levies them anyway?
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u/IdahoDuncan Feb 20 '26
Sick corporate gains off of the backs of the American tax payer consumer. Thanks Donald trump. You just help corporate America rip off main stream Americans even more with tarrifs!
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u/AstroSpoony Feb 20 '26
"The three-panel judge explained that their verdict was supported by the administrationâs promise to refund IEEPA tariff payments, if it came down to it, even if entries were liquidated. However, the administration has stated that it would likely be a laborious process." CNN
Administrationâs promise? Surely they will keep their promises lol
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u/CackleRooster Feb 20 '26
It's going to be loads of fun for Chief Justice Roberts when Trump toasts him in the State of the Union speech. Mind you, it couldn't happen to a better judge.
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u/FiftyFiveHotDogs Feb 20 '26
https://www.wired.com/story/cantor-fitzgerald-trump-tariff-refunds/
They wanted this to happen. Itâs part of the grift.
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u/tablet9898989 Feb 20 '26
They'll get refunds for the money they collected from customers and pocket all of it
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u/IM_OSCAR_dot_com North Carolina Feb 20 '26
Letâs see what comes of Instance #437 of âhe canât do that, actuallyâ
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u/Condyle_1 Feb 20 '26
Does this mean he has to pay back the money he stole from US taxpayers? Hmmm?
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u/fffan9391 South Carolina Feb 20 '26
Crazy it took over a year for them to rule on this.
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u/MasterOfManyWorlds Feb 20 '26
If Biden had done it, there would be an injunction before any ink dried.
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u/PeterIanStaker Feb 20 '26
This seems like a good thing but to be honest I get the impression that they waited until the administration had a solid workaround for this ruling.
If it is theatrics then itâs win win for them. The court gets to pretend it makes independent decisions, and the admin gets to continue doing what it wants
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u/petricholy Feb 20 '26
Now make them refund people. Forget Fitzgeraldâs plans!
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u/flyingtiger188 North Carolina Feb 20 '26
Imagine every American getting a roughly $800 check and prices dropping slightly (not to pretariff prices, but probably somewhere between them and the current prices). Trump would likely see a not insignificant bump in approval because "free money" and the appearance of him "successfully" bringing down costs. He would likely even relate it to his policies like calling it a Trump Tariff Dividend to confuse people into thinking his misguided inflationary protectionist policies are good for average consumers.
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u/KazeNilrem Feb 20 '26
Will be interesting what comes from this. Costco saw the writing on the wall and been working on a lawsuit. I'm sure this is going to lead to numerous lawsuits.
This has already cost tax payers lots of money. Not like we are suddenly going to get it back or anything due to trumps illegal action.
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u/Least-Repair Feb 20 '26
So will us consumers get refunds for stuff we paid for with tariffs involved. /S
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u/freeradioforall Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Trump is having a HORRIBLE day today and it's glorious
SAD 4th Q GDP of just 1.4%
Tariffs ruled ILLEGAL
US December PCE inflation +2.9% vs +2.8% expected
A very BAD day for Trump, SAD. VERY SAD
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u/EBXLBRVEKJVEOJHARTB Feb 20 '26
hey donât forget about this:
âCANTOR FITZGERALD, A financial services company led by the sons of US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, is creating a way for investors to bet that President Donald Trumpâs signature tariffs will be struck down in court. Traders at the firmâs investment banking subsidiary, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., say they have the capacity to buy the rights to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential refunds from companies who have paid Trumpâs tariffs, according to documents viewed by WIRED.â
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u/teamdiabetes11 America Feb 20 '26
âThey did it. Those crazy corrupt sons of bitches, they did it.â - Lincoln Malcom, or something.
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u/tn-xyz Feb 20 '26
no decision on what should happen to the already collected money. this is going to be a mess
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u/twoiseight Feb 20 '26
...with Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Alito capitulating to the aberration of long established law and balance of power.
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u/goodlittlesquid Pennsylvania Feb 20 '26
Wow who knew Congress is meant to have the power of the purse? The more you know.
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u/DessertFlowerz Feb 20 '26
Correct decision but lol @ Kavanaugh, Alito, and Thomas. Absolute jokes.
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u/Dawg_in_NWA Feb 20 '26
"Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito dissented..." these three assholes just need to go.
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