Oregon's top legal advisor is throwing his weight behind a bipartisan group in Congress fighting the Trump Administration's tariff strategy. Attorney General Dan Rayfield gave a nod to over 200 lawmakers, including Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), for their allyship in taking a legal stand. The politicians penned an amicus brief to the Supreme Court to support states like Oregon, which are challenging how emergency powers have been applied to enforce widespread tariffs.
Filing the brief alongside a diverse mix of 171 U.S. Representatives and 34 Senators, even Republicans like Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined the chorus against unilateral tariff impositions. Accusing the Trump Administration of unlawfully using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as a loophole to hike taxes, Rayfield stated, "The Trump Administration’s attempt to use emergency powers as a back door to raise taxes on American families was never lawful."
Meanwhile, Senator Wyden, a ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, spotlighted what he sees as constitutional overreach. "Congress passed IEEPA to respond to crises, not to create them. This law doesn’t even mention granting tariff authority to the president, let alone the power to slap sweeping tariffs on products from almost every country on earth," he said in a statement that highlights the stakes involved. The grappling between the executive and legislative powers goes beyond mere policy disagreements; it's a battle for the rule of law itself.
The bipartisan effort indicates a significant pushback against what is viewed as an encroachment on Congress's turf. Caught in the middle of a power tug-of-war, the states, backed by Senator Wyden's organized support, are taking a stance that enforces the separation of powers. According to Rayfield, "The constitutional balance of power is not negotiable, and Congress is making it clear that unilateral tariffs are not law." Oregon, among 11 other states, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont, is now awaiting the Supreme Court's review with oral arguments set for November 5.
