Supreme Court faces Trump pressure

Donald Trump is heading into the Supreme Court’s busiest decision period while publicly needling the justices and, at times, sending political allies into more cordial contact with the court. A New York Times report published May 24 said Trump has alternated between “bullying” the justices and trying to cozy up to them as rulings approach in cases central to his second-term agenda. Reuters reported on May 20 that four major Trump-related cases were still pending before the court and were expected to be decided by around the end of June. Those cases involve Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship, remove a member of the Federal Reserve Board, oust a Federal Trade Commission member and end protected status for immigrants from Haiti and Syria. (nytimes.com) The pressure campaign matters because the court is not dealing with a remote legal dispute. The justices are weighing disputes that go directly to the reach of presidential power and to parts of Trump’s governing program. ### Which Supreme Court cases are at the center of this? Reuters identified four major Trump-related cases still awaiting decisions as of May 20. (usnews.com) The highest-profile dispute is Trump’s order seeking to deny citizenship recognition to some children born in the United States when neither parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The same Reuters report said the justices were also weighing cases over Trump’s attempt to fire a Federal Reserve governor, remove an FTC commissioner and terminate protected status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Haiti and Syria. (usnews.com) The court was scheduled to issue another batch of rulings on Thursday. ### What does “pressure” look like in practice? (usnews.com) The New York Times reported that Trump has mixed public criticism of the court with private or social overtures around the justices. A version of the article surfaced in search results saying Vice President JD Vance made an unannounced visit to the Supreme Court the previous week for a private dinner with Chief Justice John Roberts and former clerks, accompanying his wife Usha Vance, who previously clerked for Roberts. (usnews.com) That same Times report described the broader pattern as one in which Trump has both insulted and courted the court as major rulings near. The article tied that behavior directly to pending decisions that could determine the fate of key parts of his agenda. ### Is the court expected to side with Trump? Reuters reported that the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by Trump in his first term, has often backed him in emergency applications since he returned to office. (nytimes.com) But Reuters also said questioning at oral arguments suggested Trump could lose in at least some of the remaining merits cases, especially birthright citizenship and the Federal Reserve firing dispute. Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor quoted by Reuters, said there were likely to be “a series of losses” for the administration even if they would be outweighed by its wins overall. Kreis added that the birthright citizenship case could end in a 7-2 loss for Trump. ### Why are IRS audits part of the same conversation? The Jefferson City News-Tribune carried a May 24 commentary, distributed by Tribune News Service, under the headline “Stomping on IRS audits is egregious abuse of power by Trump.” The piece is opinion, not straight reporting, but it frames pressure on tax administration as part of a broader fight over whether institutions can operate independently of presidential intervention. (usnews.com) That IRS argument sits alongside the court story because both turn on the same institutional question: whether agencies and courts make decisions under ordinary legal processes or under direct political pressure from the White House. The commentary itself described interference with audits as an abuse of power. ### What happens next? The Supreme Court was scheduled to issue another set of rulings on Thursday, Reuters reported on May 20. (newstribune.com) More decisions are expected by the end of June, including in the birthright citizenship, Federal Reserve, FTC and immigration-protection cases that will define how far the justices allow Trump to push presidential authority. (usnews.com)