San Francisco, CA and Washington, D.C. — Consumer Watchdog yesterday filed amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs in two cases—one in the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, and one in the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.— continuing its constitutional challenge to President Trump’s asserted authority to unilaterally impose tariffs. The briefs, submitted in Newsom v. Trump, No. 25-3493, pending in the Ninth Circuit, and V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, Nos. 25-1812 & 25-1813, now pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, urge the courts to strike down President Trump’s sweeping tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The filings explain that IEEPA does not mention tariffs and lacks any standards to guide or limit presidential action. Reading the statute to authorize unilateral tariffs would, Consumer Watchdog argues, cross the constitutional line against open-ended delegations of legislative power. As the briefs note, “A Congressional delegation of authority to impose tariffs without limits or guardrails would violate the Constitution.” The briefs also urge the courts to apply the Supreme Court’s recent guidance on separation-of-powers principles and interpret IEEPA narrowly to avoid constitutional conflict.
“These tariffs operate as an unchecked tax on American consumers, well beyond what the Constitution allows without congressional authorization,” said William Pletcher, Litigation Director at Consumer Watchdog. “Our briefs ask the Courts of Appeals to restore the constitutional balance and protect families and small businesses from executive overreach.”
Alan Morrison, the lead author of the briefs, is the Lerner Family Associate Dean at The George Washington University Law School and a nationally recognized expert on constitutional law and separation of powers. He has argued 20 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and co-founded the Public Citizen Litigation Group with Ralph Nader. Co-counsel on the Federal Circuit brief Will Planert, a partner at Morris, Manning & Martin LLP in Washington, D.C., is a leading appellate and regulatory litigator with extensive experience in complex federal trade cases.
Read the briefs here and here.
Consumer Watchdog is a non-profit, non-partisan public-interest organization dedicated to protecting consumers and promoting government accountability.
