r/centrist 2d ago

US News Conservative group claims Trump's tariffs illegally usurp powers of Congress

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/this-unlawful-impost-must-fall-conservative-group-sues-trump-claiming-tariffs-are-unconstitutional-exercise-of-legislative-power/
89 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

53

u/AppleSlacks 2d ago

Conservative groups overwhelmingly voted for this.

25

u/dockstaderj 2d ago

Which is wild because Trump is far from being conservative himself...he's the most radical president of my ~45 year lifetime.

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u/23rdCenturySouth 2d ago edited 2d ago

He's reactionary, not radical.

Radical refers to the far left.

Reactionary refers to the far right, literally attempting to turn back the clock to a prior status quo.

Conservatism is resistance to change. That mostly describes Democrats.

As an ideology, reactionism is a tradition in right-wing politics; the reactionary stance opposes policies for the social transformation of society, whereas conservatives seek to preserve the socio-economic structure and order that exists in the present

11

u/dockstaderj 2d ago

how does "radical" only refer to the left? What trump is doing is not reactionary, it's sending us on a new trajectory, that is radical.

rad·i·cal/ˈradək(ə)l/adjective

  1. 1.(especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.

2

u/23rdCenturySouth 2d ago edited 2d ago

The political etymology of radical dates back to early attempts to achieve universal suffrage. Most political scientists use radical and reactionary as distinct terms that refer, respectively, to the extreme left and the extreme right.

Trump's plan is perfectly consistent with going back to a prior state of affairs. Specifically, the gilded age: When tariffs were high, wages were low, and before the regulatory state existed. Back when rich people had all of the power, instead of just most of it.

2

u/zatchness 1d ago

Do you have any sources that describe the political etymology of those words?

1

u/23rdCenturySouth 18h ago

OED is great for a survey and starting point

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/radical_adj?tab=meaning_and_use#27279933

This page has a really good walkthrough of the OED references

https://www.dailywritingtips.com/radishes-and-radicals/

Radix is the Latin for "root" and in this sense a political radical is someone who wishes to change or alter the root foundations of society.

Reactionary also enters the political lexicon in the early 1800s, and refers to people whose politics is in reaction to liberal reforms. Their primary goal is to return to the prior status quo ("before those dang liberals messed everything up by getting rid of kings and giving peasants rights"). They want to return to what they see as the root of society (hierarchical values and elitism) and only favor change that restores a previous state of things.

The thing that reactionaries want is precisely the thing that radicals seek to destroy, so it is quite useful to distinguish them.

In the French legislature, radicals sat to the left and reactionaries to the right. In the middle were merchants, academics, and other professions who had a fairly privileged life either way - so long as things were stable.

3

u/crushinglyreal 2d ago edited 2d ago

In political science ‘radical’ and ‘reactionary’ are used to describe far left and far right, respectively. trump’s goal is to bring back the gilded age. That’s not a ‘new’ trajectory, it’s a reversal of 90+ years of new deal economics.

3

u/FarCalligrapher1862 2d ago

The CR the just passed explicitly allows this. One of the reasons I hoped the democrats would not fold. (Honestly that’s one of the reasons I’m not a democrat! Can’t win if you fold every time the stakes are raised)

2

u/Longjumping-Elk1110 2d ago

They wanted all the hate without any of the consequences

18

u/Primsun 2d ago

Welcome to the list Conservatives ... you are number 167 on the docket.

https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/

16

u/Whatah 2d ago

Since Congress declined to impeach&convict Trump at the end of his first term for his involvement in the Jan 6th insurrection there is nothing they will do against him for anything imaginable during this second term.

That is not hyperbole. If Trump walked right into the House of Representatives and shot Mike Johnson in the head on live television he would not be impeached. FoxNews would spin it like it was one of those classic political duels like in Hamilton. Everyone loves Hamilton, right?

I will probably get a content warning for that example, but I am literally saying the worst thing I could imagine him doing, and it would not get him impeached after congress dropped the ball on Jan6th.

Jan6th was tangible and obvious. And Trump got away with it. And then Trump was reelected. And now here we are, with congress powerless to stand up to him.

4

u/indoninja 1d ago

Congress declined to impeach&convict Trump

Over half of cingress did vote to impeach.

Every democrat and some republicans did vote to impeach.

The overwhelming majority of republicans voted not to.

Blaming Congress, is t wring, but it is far more AC irate to call out the group who specifically gave his actions a pass. Republican lawmakers.

1

u/TserriednichThe4th 1d ago

And remember mitt romney did vote to remove and pence certified the election and were abandoned by their party for it

1

u/ChipKellysShoeStore 1d ago

This comments seems like a tangent? The article is about a potential major questions case at the Supreme Court. Theoretically it can be brought by anyone affected by tariffs.

1

u/Whatah 1d ago

Yea I think I meant to reply to a different post in this thread.

5

u/ThebestFifi 2d ago

The revolution just got armed by the Mega idiots that were just told that they can't afford to retire in 2 years because their 401k just crashed. They can't blame Biden for this, but they will try.

4

u/Stringdaddy27 2d ago

So impeach and remove him. Until that happens, they're in support of it.

3

u/hitman2218 2d ago

It probably is executive overreach but if the party controlling Congress allows it to happen what can you do?

3

u/TserriednichThe4th 1d ago

Agreed. People talk about checks and balances. Congress gave trump his check to do anything to our balances.

1

u/ChipKellysShoeStore 1d ago

Sue? If you’re negatively affected by executive overreach and violation of the separation of powers you have standing to sue.

The student loan/MoHELA standing argument was 1000x more convoluted than a manufacturer whose business is hurt by tariffs

1

u/hitman2218 1d ago

So what’s the argument? That Congress should waste everybody’s time and pass tariffs that they’ve already tacitly approved of?

3

u/Financial-Special766 2d ago

Isn't The Heritage Foundation a Conservative Think Tank that wrote an entire book on Sovereignty Project 2025. They're handwriting Trump's EOs, and he just signs off of them.

I'm blaming "conservativism," the Trump Regime and their idiot cult, and the Heritage Foundation.

1

u/GameboyPATH 2d ago

Heritage Foundation is all conservatives, but not all conservatives are Heritage Foundation members.

2

u/vankorgan 1d ago

No, but all conservatives supported Trump and the heritage foundation with the exception of a handful of outspoken critic's like the Lincoln project.

2

u/MentionWeird7065 2d ago

Oh so now they care about the law? Populism has infected what used to be conservative politics.

2

u/fastinserter 2d ago

I mean yeah, they are assholes for caring when it directly impacts their bottom line only, but they are not wrong.

The House is constitutionally spelled out as the only place to be the originator for all new sources of revenue. And yes, the president claims this is for revenue.

2

u/hextiar 2d ago

Conservatives, on this issue, you have my support.

This is absolutely ridiculous for the executive to wield this power.

2

u/icecoldtoiletseat 2d ago

These hypocrites knew this shit was coming. It's always fun and games to these people until it effects them.

1

u/Thaviation 1d ago

Eh - bit of a hyperbole I’d argue.

Knowing and voting for more tariffs is VERY different than a 25%+ tariff on the entire world.

2

u/Unusual-Welcome7265 2d ago

It’s a good post but one per day in the future my dude. Rule 6 stops certain people from aggressive shitposting all day which is currently happening. Mods haven’t been enforcing that or… literally anything recently so it’s kind of a good will ask at this points

1

u/ltron2 1d ago

Prominent conservatives voted for the man who promised to do the crazy things because they thought he wouldn't actually do the crazy things. What great judgement.

0

u/refuzeto 2d ago

Standing has been all over the place at the Supreme Court but what’s the theory that this group has standing?

4

u/baxtyre 2d ago

The plaintiff is an office supply company that imports Chinese products. The conservative group is just representing them.