Good Morning:
National Guard outside of the Brookings Institution, which is also Lawfare’s headquarters. Just another Wednesday.
Yesterday on #DogShirtTV, the estimable
showed up with hot Ukrainian gossip. The estimable Mike Feinberg showed up with a baby. All in all, an excellent show:Yesterday On Lawfare
Compiled by the estimable Katherine Pompilio
The Federal Circuit Rules Trump Tariffs are Illegal
Stratos Pahis dissects the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s ruling finding that President Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs were unlawful. Pahis highlights that the “overly cautious” ruling’s recognition of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs establishes vague boundaries and invites more tariffs in the future.
Still, the Federal Circuit decision is a cautious one. Despite finding the tariffs to be illegal, the court left them in place, and remanded the case to the CIT to reassess whether a nationwide injunction against them should apply. It also recognized that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—the emergency statute that President Trump invoked to impose the tariffs—could be used to justify other tariffs in the future.
That latter conclusion is particularly misguided. The statute’s text does not support it, the court’s own reasoning does not support it, and it makes for bad policy. When the Supreme Court eventually hears the case, it should take a more principled stand and reach the conclusion that the statute and common sense compel: IEEPA does not confer upon the president any tariffing authority at all.
Are Existing Consumer Protections Enough for AI?
J. Scott Babwah, Kevin Frazier, and Anna Vinals Musquera map out how the existing consumer protection landscape interacts with artificial intelligence across five critical sectors: housing, employment, financial services, insurance, and the information environment.
Across these domains, we examine existing legal protections, identify specific algorithmic risks to consumers, and assess whether current frameworks provide adequate safeguards. The authors hope this will encourage others to complete a census of whether existing laws indeed shield consumers from real and perceived AI risks. This is a time-sensitive exercise. While states continue to pass new AI regulation, Congress seems poised to once again explore the merits of a federal moratorium on such laws.
The goal of this exercise isn’t to advocate for particular policy outcomes but to inform AI policy debate with analysis about where consumers stand today. This represents an initial effort to map the protection landscape, with the expectation that ongoing technological and regulatory developments will require continuous reassessment.
Podcasts
On Lawfare Daily, Scott R. Anderson, Anna Bower, Loren Voss, and I sit down to discuss federal judges’ rulings blocking the removal of migrant children to Guatemala, finding Trump’s deployment of the National Guard unlawful, and striking down Trump’s tariffs on IEEPA grounds.
On Rational Security, Anderson, Bower, Peter E. Harrell, and Tyler McBrien talk through the week’s big national security news stories including, the Trump administration’s new era of state-guided industrial policy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warm public embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s emergency hearing in which she blocked the administration’s removal of migrant children to Guatemala.
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is the juvenile condor, seen here sampling a popsicle:
In honor of today’s Beast, remember that even the condor looks silly during puberty. You’ll grow out of it.
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is not the infant dump truck, which is ineligible on account of being made of plastic, but which is nevertheless a Beast well worthy of recognition:
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