Kaine Welcomes Supreme Court Ruling Against Trump’s Abuse of Tariff Powers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee and former civil rights attorney, praised the Supreme Court's ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc. that the Trump Administration abused its authorities under emergency economic power legislation to impose broad-based tariffs. Kaine joined an amicus brief in the cases against Trump and has led four successful Senate bills to nullify Trump's broad-based tariffs.

"President Trump's effort to use emergency powers to impose broad-based tariffs on key allies and trading partners was unlawful and ill-advised from the start, and I am glad that the Supreme Court ruled against this egregious and destructive abuse of presidential power," said Kaine. "Broad-based tariffs are a tax on American consumers, and the Trump Administration's attempt to pretend otherwise was laughable in its inaccuracy and deeply disrespectful to the millions of American consumers who have faced higher prices because of Trump's unaffordable economic policies. The Supreme Court did its job here in upholding the bedrock principle of separation of powers - Congress must step up and do the same on tariffs, war powers, and many other issues."

Kaine has been a leading voice in the U.S. Senate on challenging President Donald Trump's abuse of emergency powers, especially related to tariffs, and on reasserting Congress' role as a coequal branch of government. Kaine has led four successful bipartisan pieces of legislation - one in April2025 and three in October 2025 - to passage in the Senate to nullify Trump's broad-based tariffs, including a global tariff and levies on Canada and Brazil. Kaine has also forced two votes on his legislation to end Trump's spurious energy emergency declaration, which the Administration undertook as a backdoor method of circumventing clean-energy policies and enriching Big Oil donors. He has also fought against the Trump Administration's abuse of executive power in foreign policy, including leading the successful passage of legislation to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) and introducing War Powers Resolutions for Venezuela, the Caribbean, and Iran.

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