WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of former federal judges, members of Congress, former government officials and legal scholars submitted an amicus brief opposing the Trump administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs aimed at reducing trade deficits. The brief challenges the administration’s claim that long-standing trade imbalances qualify as a national emergency, arguing that this move represents the most extravagant assertion of executive power over international trade in American history.

The brief argues that IEEPA does not authorize the president to unilaterally impose “reciprocal” tariffs in response to routine trade imbalances. The statute strictly limits presidential power to situations involving an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security, foreign policy, or the U.S. economy.

The amici state that Congress intentionally designed IEEPA to constrain executive authority. By misapplying emergency powers to address normal economic conditions, the administration circumvented legislative oversight and violated the statute’s clear limitations. In the filing, they urge the court to hold that the president's trade deficit tariffs are patently unlawful.

The brief was submitted by Norm Eisen, Steve Jonas, and Josh Kolb of Democracy Defenders Fund, Matthew A. Seligman of Stris & Maher LLP, and Mark A. Lemley, professor of law at Stanford Law School.

Read the brief HERE.

The amici curiae are listed below:

• Arne Carlson – Governor of Minnesota from 1991 to 1999 (R).

• Donald B. Ayer – Deputy Attorney General in the George H.W. Bush Administration from 1989 to 1990; Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Reagan Administration from 1986 to 1988; United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California from 1981 to 1986 in the Reagan Administration.

• Ty Cobb – Special Counsel to the President in the Trump Administration from 2017 to 2018 and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland from 1980 to 1986.

• Tom Coleman – Assistant Attorney General of Missouri from 1969 to 1972; Missouri State Representative from 1973 to 1976; Representative of the 6th Congressional District of Missouri from 1976 to 1993 (R).

• Barbara Comstock – Representative of the 10th Congressional District of Virginia from 2015 to 2019 (R).

• Mickey Edwards – Representative of the 5th Congressional District of Oklahoma from 1977 to 1993 (R).

• John J. Farmer – New Jersey Attorney General from 1999 to 2002 (R); Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994 (R).

• Emile Frankel – Emil H. Frankel, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, 2002-2005.

• John Giraudo – Attorney Advisor in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan Administration from 1986 to 1989.

• James Kelly – Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Trade Administration, 1984 to 1988.

• Phil Lacovara – Deputy Solicitor General in the Nixon Administration from 1972 to 1973; Counsel to the Special Prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecutor’s Office in the Nixon Administration from 1973 to 1974.

• Mike Lofgren – Former Republican Congressional Staffer.

• Richard Painter – S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota Law School and was formerly the Associate Counsel to the President where he served as the chief White House ethics lawyer.

• Trevor Potter – Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission from 1991 to 1995; General Counsel to John McCain’s Presidential Campaign from 2000 to 2008.

• Sarah R. Wasserman Rajec – Professor of International Trade Law at William & Mary Law School.

• Reid Ribble – Representative of the 8th Congressional District of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2017 (R).

• Paul Rosenzweig – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security in the George W. Bush Administration from 2005 to 2009.

• Claudine Schneider – Representative of the 2nd Congressional District of Rhode Island from 1981- 1991 (R).

• Rina Shah – Geopolitical advisor and former delegate to the Republican National Convention.

• Robert Shanks – Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan Administration from 1981 to 1984.

• Christopher Shays – Representative for the 4th Congressional District of Connecticut from 1987 to 2009 (R).

• Jeff Timmer – The Lincoln Project.

• Stanley A. Twardy, Jr. – United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 1985 to 1991 and Chief of Staff to Connecticut Governor Lowell P. Weicker, Jr from 1991 to 1993.

• James T. Walsh – Representative of the 27th Congressional District of New York from 1989-2009 (R).

• William F. Weld – Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997 (R); United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division from 1986 to 1988; U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1981 to 1986.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.