The Supreme Court Just Gave Trump Three Victories in One Ruling

Trump’s third victory was over the separation of powers itself. Congress, which is controlled by Republicans loyal to him, is effectively moribund as a coequal branch of government. The White House has asserted the power to freeze congressionally appropriated spending for any reason or none at all, to dismantle and disband congressionally established agencies at a whim, and to order the military to preemptively attack countries without congressional authorization. In response, Republican majorities in the House and Senate have largely shrugged.

Federal courts have been a more reliable check on presidential power over the last six months. Trump has responded by defying court orders on multiple occasions, especially in immigration cases, and publicly denouncing judges who rule against him. The Supreme Court initially put up some resistance by ordering the administration to halt some Alien Enemies Act deportations to El Salvador earlier this year, which it had done in apparent defiance of court orders. It also enjoined some executive orders while letting others take effect, as is more normal.

Friday’s ruling sharply tips the balance toward Trump. Whenever the executive branch appealed nationwide injunctions to the Supreme Court in recent years, it has sought to defeat the injunctions on the merits by arguing that the policies are lawful. For birthright citizenship, the Trump Justice Department took a different tack: It appealed only the nationwide reach of the lower court’s injunction, leaving intact the ruling for the plaintiffs themselves.

“Why?” Sotomayor asked in her dissent. “The answer is obvious: To get such relief, the government would have to show that the order is likely constitutional, an impossible task in light of the Constitution’s text, history, this court’s precedents, federal law, and executive branch practice. So the government instead tries its hand at a different game.