© 2025 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
Leavitt calls on SCOTUS to stop 'activist judges' after ruling against Trump tariffs: 'Courts should have no role here'
Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Leavitt calls on SCOTUS to stop 'activist judges' after ruling against Trump tariffs: 'Courts should have no role here'

The federal trade court said that the administration improperly invoked an emergency law.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped into the latest court order to get in the way of the Trump administration's agenda after the president's across-the-board tariffs were blocked.

Leavitt accused the federal trade court of "judicial overreach" and called on the Supreme Court to end what many see as judicial activism.

'Ultimately, the Supreme Court must put an end to this for the sake of our Constitution.'

"The courts should have no role here," she said in her media briefing on Thursday.

"There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process," she said. "America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges."

The panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade tossed out most of the president's tariffs after finding that the tariffs were not authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump cited. The panel said that the emergencies cited by the president were not sufficiently related to trade.

On Thursday, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted an emergency request from the Trump administration to reinstate the tariffs for the time being.

The issue may have to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which Leavitt called upon in her statement to the media.

"President Trump is in the process of rebalancing America's trade agreements with the entire world, bringing tens of billions of dollars in tariff revenues to our country and finally ending the United States of America from being ripped off," Leavitt continued. "These judges are threatening to undermine the credibility of the United States on the world stage."

RELATED: Mexican president warns Trump tariff threat 'would lead to inflation and job losses' for both countries

Photo by Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The three-panel federal trade court is composed of nominees from former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama and one nominated by President Donald Trump.

"Ultimately, the Supreme Court must put an end to this for the sake of our Constitution," Leavitt concluded.

The trade court ruling did not apply to other tariffs imposed under separate laws, but those tariffs have also been challenged by other lawsuits.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Want to leave a tip?

We answer to you. Help keep our content free of advertisers and big tech censorship by leaving a tip today.
Want to join the conversation?
Already a subscriber?
Carlos Garcia

Carlos Garcia

Staff Writer

Carlos Garcia is a staff writer for Blaze News.