The Supreme Court's "major questions" doctrine (MQD) requires Congress to "speak clearly" when authorizing the executive to make "decisions of vast economic and political significance." If the statute isn't clear, courts must reject the executive's assertion of power. But the Trump Administration, like the Biden Administration before it, argues that the doctrine does not apply to assertions of power by the President, only those by lower-level executive branch officials, such as leaders of administrative agencies.
This issue came up in several cases challenging executive actions by President Biden, and it has arisen again in the lawsuit challenging Trump's massive IEEPA tariffs filed by the Liberty Justice Center and myself, on behalf five small businesses.
