Lawyer in SCOTUS case against Trump's tariffs says his clients want a refund

Neal Katyal, a lawyer for clients involved in the Supreme Court case against Trump's tariffs, stated that the federal government should refund the money collected illegally, with interest. The Supreme Court recently struck down Trump's use of emergency powers to impose tariffs, ruling it unconstitutional, and Katyal emphasized that tariff decisions should be made by Congress, not the president.

Updated February 23, 2026 at 12:48 PM CST

Neal Katyal, one of the attorneys who argued on behalf of plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case against Trump's tariffs, told Morning Edition that his clients want a refund from the federal government.

"There's a pretty commonsense principle, which is if you've collected a bunch of money illegally and the court says it's illegal, then you've got to give it back," Katyal said. "It's not a finders keepers rule in this country. We have a system of justice."

Last week, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's sweeping use of emergency powers to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The 6-3 ruling is a major setback for the president's economic policy agenda. The next day, Trump announced in a

post that he would

social mediaunder a different law. While discussing the ruling with NPR's Steve Inkseep, Katyal, who represented U.S. businesses that objected to the tariffs, said that under the U.S. Constitution "it is up to Congress to set the tariffs and not the president acting on his own."

raise global tariffs from 10% to 15%Click the play button in the blue box above to listen to the full conversation.

Lawyer in SCOTUS case against Trump's tariffs says his clients want a refund | KERA News

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