‘President Can’t Do Whatever He Wants’: Lawyer Neal Katyal After Winning Tariff Case Against Trump

Last Updated:February 21, 2026, 10:28 IST

Neal Katyal, who represented small businesses challenging the tariffs, said the administration’s legal approach ultimately undermined its case.

Indian-origin lawyer Neal Katyal, who successfully argued against US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs before the Supreme Court, said the decisive ruling- including votes from two Trump-appointed justices- stood out in a deeply polarised legal era.

“Oftentimes in these high profile cases, there are 5 to 4. But this one was 6 to 3. And notably with two of President Trump’s three appointees voting against him," Katyal told CNN in an interview.

Katyal, a former Acting Solicitor General who represented small businesses challenging the tariffs, said the administration’s legal approach ultimately undermined its case.

Read more: ‘Adjustment Process Begins’: Trump Announces New 10% Global Tariff After Supreme Court Ruling

“Acting in a constitutional way instead of this ridiculous ‘I am the president I can do whatever I want’ stuff," he said, when asked what could have been different.

He added, “It is really hard to win a case against the US President in the Supreme Court but we managed to do that because the President took such an extreme position. We only cared about one thing- Constitution."

The son of Indian immigrants, Katyal emerged as a central figure in the landmark judgment that struck down Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on imports from nearly all trading partners.

Moments after the ruling, Katyal called it a defining affirmation of constitutional limits on presidential authority.

“Today, the United States Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law, and Americans everywhere. Its message was simple: Presidents are powerful, but our Constitution is more powerful still. In America, only Congress can impose taxes on the American people," he said.

Read more: ‘Embarrassment To Their Families’: Trump’s Personal Attack On Supreme Court Justices Over Tariff Ruling

The case, backed by small businesses and supported by the Liberty Justice Center, challenged Trump’s argument that tariffs were justified under emergency economic powers.

Katyal described the outcome as a milestone not tied to any single presidency.

“This case has always been about the presidency, not any one president. It has always been about the separation of powers, and not the politics of the moment," he said.

Born in Chicago to immigrant parents from India, Katyal has argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court and previously served as the US government’s top courtroom advocate under President Barack Obama. He is currently a partner at Milbank LLP and a law professor at Georgetown University.

Reflecting on the outcome, Katyal said the case illustrated the strength of constitutional checks and balances.

“The idea that we have a system that self-corrects, that allows us to say you might be the most powerful man in the world, but you still can’t break the Constitution- that is what today is about," he said.

News world ‘President Can’t Do Whatever He Wants’: Lawyer Neal Katyal After Winning Tariff Case Against Trump

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