The Roberts' Court Stands Up for the Constitution on Tariffs

Now, Congress and the High Court need to stop a war with Iran

A South Korean court recently sentenced Mr. Yoon, its former president, to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of insurrection when he declared martial law in December 2024.

Yoon’s attempt at overthrowing South Korea’s democracy occurred roughly a month after our nation’s twice-impeached chief executive defeated Kamala Harris in our last presidential election.

All Americans should applaud the people of South Korea for standing up for their democracy by swarming their National Assembly in December 2024 to prevent the military from taking over the South Korean legislature.

After those acts of courage by the South Korean people, legislators of South Korea showed their own courage by voting down Yoon’s martial law edict and impeaching Yoon.

He was removed from office, found guilty of insurrection by the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday and now will receive life imprisonment; he reportedly has a week to appeal the verdict and his sentence.

We might all heed the courage of the South Korean people, legislature and courts for upholding the rule of law in what was, without a doubt, a “stress test” for their democracy, a relatively young one, compared to our own democracy, which is nearly 250 years old.

Our country, at its best, is and always has been a beacon to the world.

For all of our flaws, we have historically tried to do the right thing, and when we have been wrong, we have corrected or amended our mistakes.

The U.S. Constitution is one of the hallmarks of our country. For all of its flaws, the Constitution set out such bedrock or sacrosanct principles as checks and balances, the separation of powers and the Bill of Rights. And we as a nation have amended the Constitution to ensure the rights of women, African Americans and others, who were denied the right to vote, for instance, for long stretches of our history.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, honored the Constitution by ruling 6-3 that Trump’s unilateral imposition of “sweeping” tariffs is not constitutional or legal.

As Justice Roberts made clear, the power to impose tariffs rests with the U.S. Congress.

Republican Senators such as Mitch McConnell, the former Senate Majority Leader, John Curtis and Charles Grassley praised the High Court’s decision.

Trump, the solipsist-in-chief, who betrays our nation every day, condemned the Supreme Court’s decision and called it a “disgrace,” one of his favorite terms.

Of course, it is Trump, the projection artist, who is the “disgrace.”

Yes, something is rotten in the state of America, as I noted in my last piece and previous ones, and this rottenness has been corroding our country for a decade or so, since our twice-impeached chief executive began poisoning the ear of America, if not Denmark.

Will the third time for an impeachment prove to be the proverbial charm? Can the U.S. Senate finally show the courage that is necessary in order to convict Trump of impeachment?

In addition to all of his many high crimes and misdemeanors, such as denying Americans due process, deporting citizens and non-citizens alike, bombing boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific, attacking Venezuela and Iran last year without congressional approval, Trump looks to be leading us into another hideous war with Iran, as I wrote in my last piece, “Suzy Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet Travels the Globe.”

There is no doubt that Congress and the Senate need to impeach and convict Trump.

Nixon was not above the law, and neither is Trump, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2024 that suggested that a president is essentially immune from prosecution for most official acts of the office.

The Supreme Court should revisit that doctrine, for Trump is no king, and even kings and other members of royalty have been prosecuted for crimes, such as Charles I, who was executed in England in the mid-1600s for treason, as well as former Prince Andrew, who was recently arrested after being accused of misconduct in public office, an offense that could carry a sentence of life in prison, not unlike the one now facing former South Korean President Yoon.

Beyond former Prince Andrew’s connection to the Epstein scandal in this country, there is another echo to the present day, one that involves King Charles I.

That British monarch, who ruled at the time of the English Civil War, fought the British Parliament’s armies, which sought a constitutional monarchy, with checks and balances. Charles I, by contrast, wanted to rule over England like a tyrant with absolute authority.

As we revisit the history of England and the world, I should point out, as it relates to the word, “armada,” it is a legitimate one, though it need not have been capitalized by Trump, who did so in a recent social media post.

Trump, who is not exactly a student of history and who has never had an irony detector, might have thought twice about invoking a so-called “Armada,” concerning the U.S. military assets that he is moving to the Middle East to confront Iran.

Perhaps, the most famous example of an upper-case “Armada” is the Spanish Armada, which was defeated decisively by the British.

Indeed, some 60 years or so before King Charles I was executed for treason in England, Queen Elizabeth I and her royal navy, as well as British privateers, like Sir Francis Drake, vanquished the Spanish Armada.

Yes, armada is a perfectly legitimate word. But the war that Trump is seeking against Iran would be illegitimate, illegal and unconstitutional, if Congress is not consulted, and could lead to significant casualties.

As I wrote in my last post, it would also be a completely unnecessary war.

With so much U.S. military hardware being transported to the Middle East, we should not have been surprised when Trump said recently that “bad things will happen” to Iran if it does not agree to a peace deal.

Trump has no interest in peace. He never has.

He just postures and tries to act tough.

That is what guides almost all of his policy decisions.

He is being played by Putin and Netanyahu, who know how to stroke his ego.

Putin and Netanyahu tell Trump that he is brilliant, just as they and Trump’s sycophants and enablers in his administration and the Congress told him for months that he would win a Nobel Peace Prize.

All of this was and is laughable, for Trump is and always has been a warmonger.

In sending U.S. warplanes, aircraft carriers, destroyers, missile interceptors and other U.S. military hardware into the Mediterranean and other nearby water bodies, Trump is preparing to get our country into a potentially far more dangerous conflict than last year’s so-called 12-day war, in which Trump claimed to have “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities.

No, Trump did not “obliterate” all of Iran’s nuclear facilities or ballistic missiles.

And, no, Trump cannot simply take us to war; he must consult Congress.

Like the power to issue tariffs, the power to bring our country to war rests with the Congress, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its 6-3 decision, stopped Trump from issuing broad tariffs without congressional authorization.

Now, the High Court and, more immediately, the Congress must stop the medically deferred chickenhawk, who ducked the Vietnam War, from getting us into another war.

I do not want to sound too alarmist, but all of us, Republicans, Democrats and independents, need the Congress to intervene here, so that people all over the world, Americans, as well as Iranians and Israelis and others, do not needlessly die in an illegal war that violates our Constitution.

Incidentally, in the spirit of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who passed away earlier this week, I should point out that not one of us is “perfect” at anything.

As I wrote a few days ago in a post, which bore the headline, “Rev. Jesse Jackson Kept Hope Alive,” Rev. Jackson told those gathered at the 1984 Democratic convention that he was not a “perfect servant.” He was a “public servant.”

I am not perfect either. And I too have made mistakes, including in my writing, as I have mentioned before.

I have been harsh at times when I should not have been, and I have made other errors, for which I have apologized.

Then there are errors, which hurt no one’s feelings or sensibility, except my own perhaps after the fact.

In my first piece for Substack on June 27, 2025, “No Kings, No Tyrants,” a piece that discussed Trump’s attempt to “obliterate” Iran as well as our language, I made a minor error.

The error was fairly innocuous, and I noticed it only today, as I re-read the piece.

When I edited the piece last year, I failed to remove the word, “that,” in one sentence.

“That” is indeed a fairly innocuous word, and my error is easy to miss.

I regret the error; in fact, I might say that I regret that, if I can repeat the pronoun.

Of course, I am glad that I have pointed out for years that Trump is the most dire threat we have ever faced in this country.

To hearken back to another British monarch, Richard III, I might steer you to another article I wrote, “Trumpty Dumpty Will Have His Great Fall,” a Huffington Post piece from September 10, 2015.

Yes, Trumpty Dumpty Will Have His Great Fall.

That was the headline in 2015, and it still deserves all-caps for the opening letters in each word.

His fall is likely to last a long time.