The Supreme Court issued its opinion in the tariff cases yesterday.  The decision was highly splintered.  Although six justices agreed that the President could not impose IEEPA tariffs, the Chief Justice was unable to maintain a majority that clearly relied on any one rationale.  Instead, the justices split as follows: I’ll start with what I […]

Last month the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in U.S. ex re. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, which concerns whether the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) comports with Article II of the Constitution.  The case (or one like it) seems bound for the Supreme Court—where several justices have already raised questions about qui tam’s constitutionality.   Christian D. […]

As we approach Thanksgiving travels, I wanted to share a new monthly podcast that might be of interest to readers of this blog.  The podcast is titled “The Separation of Powers,” and it is produced by the Separation of Powers Institute at the Catholic University of America.   I host the podcast, and each episode typically […]

At oral argument in the tariff cases, a so-called “donut hole” argument was raised.  The argument maintains it would be highly unlikely for the statutory phrase “regulate … importation” to confer a host of unenumerated powers—including the power to impose licensing fees—but not confer the power to regulate importation by imposing duties (i.e., tariffs).  The donut hole argument […]