how did the justices vote on tariffs
The Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs in a 6–3 decision, with six justices voting against the tariffs and three voting to uphold them.
How each justice voted
Majority (voted that the tariffs were illegal – against the tariffs)
These six justices formed the majority that ruled Trump lacked authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose such broad, unilateral tariffs:
- Chief Justice John Roberts
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor
- Justice Elena Kagan
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
- Justice Amy Coney Barrett
- Justice Neil Gorsuch
The majority held that the statute “does not empower the President to levy tariffs” of the scale and breadth Trump claimed, and that he needed clear, explicit authorization from Congress for such extraordinary tariff power.
Dissent (voted to uphold the tariffs – for the tariffs)
- Justice Clarence Thomas
- Justice Samuel Alito
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Justice Kavanaugh wrote a dissent arguing that, while the court was limiting Trump’s use of IEEPA, the decision did not necessarily prevent a president from using other trade statutes to impose many of the same types of tariffs under different legal authority.
Quick HTML table of the vote
| Justice | Position on tariffs | Opinion role |
|---|---|---|
| John Roberts | Against tariffs (illegal under IEEPA) | [3][5][7][1]Wrote the majority opinion | [5][7][1][3]
| Sonia Sotomayor | Against tariffs | [7]Joined majority | [7]
| Elena Kagan | Against tariffs | [7]Joined majority | [7]
| Ketanji Brown Jackson | Against tariffs | [7]Joined majority | [7]
| Amy Coney Barrett | Against tariffs | [1][7]Joined majority, pivotal conservative vote | [6][7]
| Neil Gorsuch | Against tariffs | [1][7]Joined majority, wrote separate opinion stressing Congress’s role | [1]
| Clarence Thomas | For tariffs (would have upheld) | [3][1][7]Dissenting | [3][1][7]
| Samuel Alito | For tariffs | [3][1][7]Dissenting | [1][3][7]
| Brett Kavanaugh | For tariffs | [3][1][7]Wrote main dissent | [1][3]
Why this ruling matters
- It is a major check on presidential power to use emergency laws to impose wide, long‑running tariffs without Congress explicitly authorizing it.
- It undercuts a central pillar of Trump’s economic policy, which relied on broad unilateral tariff authority.
- Even the two Trump‑appointed conservatives Barrett and Gorsuch joined the majority, signaling limits on executive power even from a largely conservative court.
Bottom line: The justices voted 6–3 against Trump’s emergency tariffs, with Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson, Barrett, and Gorsuch in the majority and Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh in dissent.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.