Live updates: Supreme Court hears arguments on Trump tariff case – NBC News

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., again rejected Trump’s explicit demand this morning for Senate Republicans to kill the legislative filibuster in the upper chamber.

“I know that where the math is on this issue in the Senate, and it’s not, it’s just not happening,” Thune told reporters after he attended a breakfast Trump hosted for Senate Republicans at the White House.

“As I said before, there are not the votes there,” Thune said, “And so the main thing we need to be focused on right now, in my view, is getting the government opened up again.”

Trump, who doubled down at the breakfast on his call to kill the filibuster, has argued that eliminating the 60-vote threshold would allow Republicans to unilaterally reopen the government without votes from Democrats.

Neil Katyal, a lawyer for the businesses that sued the Trump administration over the president’s tariffs, has started delivering his opening statement.

“Tariffs are taxes,” Katyal began by saying. “They take dollars from Americans’ pockets and deposit them in the U.S. Treasury. Our founders gave that taxing power to Congress alone.”

“Is it your contention that every country needed to be tariffed because of threats to the defense and industrial base,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Solicitior General John Sauer.

“I mean, Spain, France? I could see it with some countries, but explain to me why as many countries needed to be subject to the reciprocal tariff policy,” Barrett continued.

Sauer responded that “there’s this sort of lack of reciprocity, this asymmetric treatment of our trade, with respect to foreign countries that does run across the board,” repeating an argument the administration has used to invoke presidential authority to issue the duties under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act.

Justice Neil Gorsuch asked Solicitor General John Sauer if he thinks that “tariffs are always foreign affairs?”

After a pause, Sauer said that “I can’t think of a situation where they’re not foreign facing.”

But Sauer then hedged his answer by adding that “revenue-raising” tariffs may not be considered foreign affairs.

The administration argues that the tariffs are regulatory, rather then revenue-raising, in nature, although Trump routinely makes claims about the large amount of money his sweeping tariffs will raise for the United Staters.

Justice Gorsuch asked his first question of the arguments, probing Sauer on the government’s claim that tariffs are related to foreign affairs and Congress has granted the president sweeping power to conduct foreign policy.

“You say that we shouldn’t be so concerned in the area of foreign affairs because of the president’s inherent powers,” Gorsuch said.

Sauer pivoted to the specific statutes at issue in the case, but Gorsuch cut him off.

“I’m not asking about the statute. I’m asking for your theory of the Constitution. … You’re saying there’s inherent authority [for the president] in foreign affairs, all foreign affairs, to regulate commerce, duties and and tariffs and war, inherent authority, all the way down,” says Gorsuch.

Justice Elena Kagan, speaking to Solicitor General John Sauer, said that “if one does not think that with respect to tariffs … that a tariff is a taxing power, is a regulation of foreign commerce, that is really delegated by the Constitution to Congress, that argument does not sound so well.”

Kagan’s comment was one of many from both liberal and conservative justices questioning the assertion by the Trump administration.

Sauer argued that “everyone knows” that the U.S. is in a kind of emergency with regard to trade deficits, which is the administration’s premise for issuing sweeping tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act.

“It turns out we’re in emergencies about everything all the time,” Kagan quipped.

In an exchange with U.S. Solicitor General Sauer, Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to be skeptical about the argument that the government is using to push for Trump’s tariffs.

Roberts said “the imposition of taxes on Americans” has always “been the core power of Congress.”

Roberts also said the major questions doctrine “might be directly applicable.”

“The statue doesn’t use the word tariff,” Roberts said.

Rep. Richie Neal, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is in attendance at the high court this morning.

Neal, who helped to pass the USMCA trade agreement into law in the first Trump administration, led a group of congressional Democrats in filing an amicus brief arguing that the president does not have the authority to implement tariffs under the IEEPA without congressional approval. 

“Presidents don’t get to decide these questions arbitrarily,” Neal told NBC News during a walk from his office to the Supreme Court. “There has to be a review by the constitutional authority, in this instance, in Congress and the Ways and Means Committee in particular … are responsible for all tax measures.”

Neal believes congressional Republicans have ceded too much of their authority to the White House when it comes to trade policy more broadly. He hopes that the Supreme Court fixes the balance of power.

“This should not be based upon the personalities that are involved. This should be based upon the law. We believe, with great evidence, that the decision that is rendered here ought to be one that supports the constitutional responsibility of the Congress of the United States,” said Neal.

Arguing the case for Trump’s sweeping global tariff agenda, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer told Supreme Court justices that “these are regulatory tariffs. They are not revenue-raising tariffs.”

Sauer added that “the fact that they raise revenue was only incidental.”

Trump has repeatedly said that one of the purposes of his tariff agenda is to enrich the country, which in his view, has been “ripped off” by other countries.

So far this year, more than $170 billion in tariff revenue has been collected from importers.

In response, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “I just don’t understand this argument” that tariffs are not a tax. Congress, not the president, holds the power to tax, she noted.

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer has begun making his case that Trump’s use of the obscure International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose sweeping country-specific and fentanyl tariffs are constitutional. The justices are now questioning Sauer about the administration’s position.

“Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker joins “TODAY” to break down the key takeaways from the 2025 Election Day results in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia, where Democrats scored major victories. She discusses the messages that resonated with voters, what the results mean for President Donald Trump as well as the Republican Party as a whole and more.

A federal judge has ordered the White House to restore American Sign Language interpreters at White House press briefings.

In a 26-page court filing, Judge Amir Ali of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that the White House press briefings engage Americans on important issues affecting their lives, including “in recent months, war, the economy and healthcare, and, in recent years, a global pandemic.”

“The exclusion of deaf Americans from that programming, in addition to likely violating the Rehabilitation Act, is clear and present harm that the court cannot meaningfully remedy after the fact,” Ali wrote.

At the same time, the judge noted that the plaintiffs, led by the National Association of the Deaf, “have not introduced evidence that supports extending the court’s relief to other press conferences or related events, or to events conducted exclusively by the Vice President, First Lady or Second Lady.”

The White House didn’t immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

While Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago have drawn fierce protests and extensive media coverage, immigration raids in Houston have quietly resulted in large numbers of arrests, according to data obtained by NBC News.

ICE agents arrested more than 1,500 people in Houston over a 10-day stretch in October, according to its field office director, Bret Bradford. While it received less attention than other raids across the country, it resulted in a higher number of arrests per day on average. 

A six-week ICE operation in Washington, D.C., from early August to late September resulted in 1,400 arrests. A seven-week operation in Chicago involving ICE and Border Patrol has led to the arrests of 3,800 immigrants since mid-September. And a 12-week operation in Los Angeles over the summer resulted in the arrest of 5,000 immigrants, according to DHS. 

The Trump administration has largely targeted sanctuary cities for large-scale immigration raids. Though Houston is run by a Democratic mayor, it is not a sanctuary city due to a 2017 state law that bans cities in Texas from passing policies that limit local police interaction with ICE.

The ICE action in Houston last month followed 10-day operations in February and August that resulted in 543 arrests and 822 arrests, respectively, Bradford said.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said this morning that he believes the government shutdown had an effect on the outcome of last night’s elections in his state.

“I do think that the government shutdown is a big challenge. It is a big, big challenge,” he said at a news conference on the results, in which Democrats made big gains in Virginia.

Youngkin said Virginia has about 330,000 federal workers, adding, “Virginia’s people are going without paychecks. They’re worried about mortgages and rents. They’re worried about how they’re going to feed their families. The challenge of this government shutdown is real, and I am incredibly understanding of that challenge for all Virginians, and I think it has, I think it caused quite, quite a turnout yesterday.”

He added, “I do believe that had a major impact on yesterday.”

The outgoing governor then called on the Senate to reopen the government as soon as possible.

Senate Democrats called on the Supreme Court to end what one called the president’s “reign of tariff terror.”

The case is “small business versus Trump, Main Street versus Mar-a-Lago. That is what’s going to be heard before the Supreme Court today,” Sen. Ed Markey, of Massachusetts, told reporters in front of the high court.

Markey said the tariffs are wreaking havoc on small-business owners who “will not allow Trump to destroy all that they’ve worked for.”

Unlike bigger companies, Markey said small businesses “cannot buy a year or two of inventory” to sidestep the increased prices, which he called “an existential threat to their ability to survive.”

No one thought yesterday was going to be Trump’s election night, but there were even fewer silver linings than many Republicans had hoped.

Democrats attacked the president’s agenda to help score victories in Virginia, where former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger quickly defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. They also prevailed in the attorney general’s race — where their candidate had been wrapped up in a texting controversy — and made double-digit gains in the state Legislature.

Democrats won in New Jersey, where Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli in a race for governor considered the best upset opportunity for the GOP. Democrats also won redistricting efforts in California and got their preferred candidate in the New York mayor’s race. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a favorite of the left and boogeyman of the political right, beat Trump-endorsed former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

And Democrats also scored much needed victories in nearly every major state-level contest, a helpful night as they try to build on a data-based narrative that Trump and Republicans have tanked the nation’s economy and gone too far right ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Read the full story here.

NBC News chief data analyst Steve Kornacki joins “TODAY” to break down the results from the key races on Election Day 2025. He shares how Democrats were able to make gains in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, what it could signal about next year’s midterm elections and more.

Trump doubled down this morning on his demand for Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to advance most legislation to a final vote.

“It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do and that’s terminate the filibuster,” Trump said at a breakfast he’s hosting for Senate Republicans at the White House.

“If you don’t terminate the filibuster, you’ll be in bad shape,” he said, arguing that they otherwise won’t be able to pass any legislation for the rest of his second term.

Trump claimed without citing evidence that Democrats would eliminate the filibuster if they retake control of parts of the government in the next elections. Republicans, however, have resisted Trump’s calls to eliminate the procedure.

Trump brought up Election Day results right off the bat in remarks to GOP senators at the White House.

“I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” he said.

He added that they would discuss the results further once reporters leave the room.

The president also said he believed the shutdown affected the results, noting that people appeared to be blaming Republicans more. Polling indicates that voters are shifting more blame onto Trump and GOP lawmakers for the shutdown than onto Democrats.

In his first speech as the next mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani made clear he and his city are coming for Trump.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said at his victory speech in Brooklyn last night. “And if there’s any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”

“So Donald Trump,” he added, “since I know you’re watching — I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”

The crowd responded with the raucous cheers that Mamdani no doubt hoped Trump would hear.

Read the full story here.

Democrats Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards advanced to a runoff in a special congressional election in Texas, NBC News projects, as a crowded field vied to fill the late Rep. Sylvester Turner’s deep-blue seat.

The race saw 16 candidates, including seven Democrats, five Republicans, three independents and one Green Party member, face off in a heavily Democratic district that includes downtown Houston and parts of surrounding Harris County.

Menefee is the county attorney for Harris County, becoming the first Black person to hold that office after unseating three-term incumbent Vince Ryan. Edwards is an attorney and nonprofit founder who served on the Houston City Council for four years.

Read the full story here.

Trump’s signature economic policy comes under Supreme Court scrutiny today as the justices weigh whether he has the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on imports under a law designed for use during a national emergency.

The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority that has regularly backed Trump on various contentious cases since he took office in January, but many legal observers think the tariffs dispute is a close call.

The consequences are huge for Trump and the economy at large, with Americans increasingly anxious amid signs that the tariffs are contributing to, rather than alleviating, higher costs.

Read the full story here.

Democratic wins in yesterday’s elections gave the party a sorely needed burst of momentum ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The party came in favored in races for Virginia and New Jersey governor, New York City mayor and a California ballot measure to green-light a Democratic gerrymander of the state’s congressional map.

But the huge margins in those governor’s races and other contests left many Democrats feeling a new emotion — excitement — for the first time in some time. The results affirmed the candidates’ decisions to run economic-centered campaigns, highlighted Republicans’ trouble replicating Trump’s coalition and included other signs of repudiation and warning for Trump.

Read the full story here.

The lengthy standoff between Trump and congressional Democratic leaders is now the longest government shutdown in American history.

The shutdown enters its 36th day today, eclipsing the record set during Trump’s first term. That 35-day federal closure in late 2018 and early 2019 resulted from a fight over Trump’s demand for a border wall, which Democrats refused to fund.

Read the full story here.