WASHINGTON – The lawyer who won asweeping new Supreme Court rulingblocking PresidentDonald Trump's tariff action said Feb. 20 he always believed the court would ultimately side with him – even as he acknowledged the steep odds ofchallenging presidential power."It was a complete victory for us," Neal Katyal told USA TODAY shortly after the decision. "We got everything we asked for, and I thought the Supreme Court stood up for our Constitution."
"We always believed this was gravely illegal," added Katyal, "and it was very gratifying to see six members of the Supreme Court agree with us."The ruling marked a rare and consequential rebuke of presidential authority in the trade arena, where courts have historically given the executive branch wide latitude, said Katyal, a 55-year-old Georgetown University law professor and former acting Solicitor General in the Obama administration.
President Donald Trump slammed the Supreme Court in a press conference on Feb. 20, 2026, after the conservative court blocked sweeping tariffs in a 6–3 decision, dealing a major blow to the president's economic agenda and limiting executive power." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Supreme Court limits tariff power, drawing fierce backlash from Trump
President Donald Trump slammed theSupreme Courtin a press conference on Feb. 20, 2026, after the conservative court blocked sweeping tariffs in a 6–3 decision, dealing a major blow to the president's economic agenda and limiting executive power.
That pushback, which included support from two Trump-appointed conservative judges, made the victory especially significant.
"Whenever you're challenging major presidential action, the court is really circumspect about saying no to a president," he said. "It's always a tough hill."
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In several dozen previous cases, the Supreme Court mostly gave Trump short-term wins regarding presidential authority in cases brought as part of the high court's emergency docket, which allowed Trump policies to go into effect temporarily until lower courts ruled on them.
Butthe tariffs casewas a regular case before the Supreme Court, which had ordered full briefings and expedited arguments.
As such, Katyal said, it was the first time the justices had the first real opportunity to say yes – or no – to Trump, who aggressively lobbied the court to side with him in recent months.
Still, Katyal said he never doubted the legal foundation of the challenge."I'd always known in my heart of hearts, this was blatantly illegal," he said, adding that his team believed it had "the best originalist understanding from the point of view of our founders."He also sharply criticized the underlying policy, calling Trump's actions "really fundamentally un-American."The win carries particular weight given Katyal's extensive Supreme Court experience. He said the case was his 53rd argument before the High Court, part of a career tally that now stands at 54.Yet even for a veteranSCOTUSwarrior, this one stood apart for the decisive message the justices sent about limits of presidential power."I felt like this decision was incredibly important at this moment in time," Katyal said, "to stand up for the rule of law and our separation of powers."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Tariff lawyer Neal Katyal knew he had SCOTUS case to beat Trump
