Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Friday that Congress bears responsibility for the legal uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump's use of emergency powers to impose broad tariffs.
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the president exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
"One thing is clear," Roy told "Finnerty." "The fact is, Congress is the one who made the mess out of all of this.
"The language is incredibly vague and problematic, and frankly, this is something I've been trying to work on in Congress."
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that Trump must point to clear congressional authorization to justify sweeping global tariffs under IEEPA, a 1977 law that grants the president authority to address unusual and extraordinary foreign threats.
The ruling said the statute did not provide sufficient authorization for the broad tariff program at issue.
Roy, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, argued that Congress has allowed "40- and 50-year abuses of the IEEPA statute" and noted that he introduced legislation six years ago aimed at reforming the law.
"Congress needs to clean it up," Roy said. "And the court here, I don't think, did us any favors. I think they made it worse.
"I think they complicated things in trying to step in and intervene."
Roy added that the high court acknowledged the president has other authorities he could use to pursue tariff policy.
"The president has a lot of other authorities, and the court acknowledged that," he said.
Whether Congress will move to grant additional tariff authority remains uncertain, Roy said.
"One question is having the votes in the House or the Senate to enact additional empowerment for tariffs," he said. "And that's something we're going to have to go look at now in light of the ruling."
He emphasized that if Republicans want to maintain their majority, "Congress does need to act." He added: "The president is leading.
"The president is doing a lot of great things for this country ... and now we're going to have a debate about the tariff issue."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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