Indian-origin lawyer Neal Katyal played a central role in the Supreme Court decision that struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs
Neal Katyal, a former Acting Solicitor General of the United States and the son of Indian immigrants, has emerged at the centre of a landmark Supreme Court judgment that overturned President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, marking a significant moment in the legal battle over presidential powers.
Katyal challenged Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose what he described as “unjust, unconstitutional taxes” on imports from nearly every trading partner.
Moments after the ruling, Katyal said, “Today, the United States Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law, and Americans everywhere. Its message was simple: Presidents are powerful, but our Constitution is more powerful still. In America, only Congress can impose taxes on the American people.”
Legal challenge backed by small businesses
The case was brought by small businesses and supported by the Liberty Justice Center. Trump had defended the tariffs as essential for national security and economic leverage, citing trade deficits and fentanyl overdoses as national emergencies.
Katyal described the decision as a defining constitutional moment. “The US Supreme Court gave us everything we asked for in our legal case. Everything,” he said.
“This case has always been about the presidency, not any one president. It has always been about the separation of powers, and not the politics of the moment. I’m gratified to see our Supreme Court, which has been the bedrock of our government for 250 years, protect our most fundamental values,” Katyal said.
Career shaped by constitutional battles
Born in Chicago to Indian immigrant parents, a doctor and an engineer, Katyal built his career around complex constitutional disputes. He graduated from Dartmouth College and Yale Law School and later clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court.
Appointed Acting Solicitor General by President Barack Obama in 2010, Katyal represented the federal government before the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals across the country. He has argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court, setting records for minority advocates.
He is currently a partner at Milbank LLP and serves as the Paul Saunders Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. His work focuses on constitutional and complex appellate litigation. His previous cases include defending the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, challenging Trump’s 2017 travel ban, and securing unanimous rulings in major environmental and national security disputes.
Katyal also served as Special Prosecutor for the State of Minnesota in the murder case of George Floyd and authored the book Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump.
Recognition and impact of the ruling
He has received the US Justice Department’s highest civilian honour, the Edmund Randolph Award, and was named Litigator of the Year by The American Lawyer in 2017 and 2023. Forbes included him among the top 200 lawyers in the United States in 2024 and 2025.
The Supreme Court’s decision on Trump’s tariff is expected to restrict a president’s ability to rely on emergency economic powers to introduce sweeping tariffs without clear authorisation from Congress.
Reflecting on the case, Katyal said in an interview with MS Now, “Just think about it like that. The son of immigrants was able to go to court and say on behalf of American small businesses, hey, this president is acting illegally. And I was able to present my case, have them ask really hard questions at me. It was a really intense oral argument. And at the end of it, they voted and we won.”
“That is something so extraordinary about this country, the idea that we have a system that self-corrects, that allows us to say you might be the most powerful man in the world, but you still can’t break the Constitution. I mean, that to me is what today is about,” Katyal said.
In another interview with MSNBC, he added, “Today, the United States Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law, stood up for Americans everywhere. Its message was simple. Presidents are powerful, but our constitution is more powerful still.”
Standing outside the Supreme Court, he said, “In America, only Congress, the chief justice writing for six justices said, only Congress can impose taxes on the American people. And that’s what tariffs are. Tariffs are taxes,” he said.
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