US supreme court’s liberal justices express skepticism over Trump’s justification of tariffs – live updates

4.58pm GMT

“There is no citation whatsoever in the government’s brief to any notion that the President has Article II tariff authority,” Katyal said. “In wartime, conquered territory, maybe. But this is not a wartime or conquered territory statute … They are tariffing the entire world in peacetime, and they are doing it asserting a power that no president in our history has ever had.”

4.51pm GMT

Katyal also noted that Congress knows “exactly how to delegate its tariff powers”, and has done so in many instances for 238 years. “It’s done so explicitly, always with real limits. IEEPA looks nothing like those laws,” he said.
As he answered questions from the justices, he pushed back against the government’s characterization that revenue from the president’s tariffs is simply incidental. “Our founders didn’t give the president revenue-raising power, even in a time of war,” Katyal said.

Updated at 4.58pm GMT

4.50pm GMT

At the supreme court, Neal Katyal, the attorney arguing for private companies challenging Trump’s tariffs, said: “Tariffs are taxes. They take dollars from Americans pockets and deposit them in the US treasury. Our founders gave that taxing power to Congress alone. Yet here, the president bypassed Congress and imposed one of the largest tax increases in our lifetimes.”
He added:

Many doctrines explain why this is illegal, like the presumption that Congress speaks clearly when it imposes taxes and duties and the major questions doctrine, but it comes down to common sense. It’s simply implausible that in enacting IEEPA, Congress handed the president the power to overhaul the entire tariff system and the American economy in the process, allowing him to set and reset tariffs on any and every product from any and every country at any and all times.

Updated at 4.52pm GMT

4.29pm GMT

Before the US solicitor general finished taking questions, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson probed him a final time: “What is a little concerning to me is that your argument suggests that we should see the word ‘imposed’, the phrase ‘impose tariffs’… We don’t see that word. Instead, you take ‘regulate’ and say that must mean that.”

Updated at 4.36pm GMT

4.28pm GMT

It’s worth noting that even conservative justices sound doubtful of the strength of the Trump administration’s position on the legality of its tariffs. “The vehicle is the imposition of taxes on Americans, and that has always been a core power of Congress,” said Chief Justice John Roberts.
After D John Sauer argued that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, enabled Trump to impose sweeping tariffs, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said: “One problem you have is that presidents since IEEPA have not done this.”

Updated at 4.41pm GMT

4.27pm GMT

If you’re listening to the arguments, you will have heard the term “major questions doctrine” come up a few times. This is the legal principle that means a federal agency cannot create new, significant economic or political policies unless Congress uses plain language to authorize them.
Because the IEEPA doesn’t include specific terms like “tariffs” or “duties”, justices today have taken issue with the Trump administration’s argument today. Chief Justice Roberts questioned why the solicitor general doesn’t think the doctrine applies in this case.
Justice Gorsuch pushed Sauer even further, warning that the tariffs in this case could be “a one-way ratchet toward the gradual but continual accretion of power in the executive branch and away from the people’s elected representatives”.

Updated at 4.29pm GMT

4.17pm GMT

Interestingly, Sauer said today that the tariffs “are regulatory”.
“They are not revenue-raising tariffs, the fact that they raise revenue is only incidental,” he added.
Trump, however, has touted the levies as a huge boon for the American economy, including offsetting the national debt, and revitalizing domestic manufacturing.

Updated at 4.22pm GMT

3.40pm GMT

Justices started to hear oral arguments a short while ago on tariffs at the heart of the Donald Trump’s policy platform, a crucial legal test of his controversial economic strategy – and power.
So far, some justices have expressed skepticism over the law – known as the IEEPA – that the president used to slap steep duties on almost every US trading partner.
D John Sauer, the solicitor general defending the Trump administration in the case, has argued that these duties amount to “regulatory tariffs, not revenue-raising tariffs”. He said: “We don’t contend that what’s being exercised here is the power to tax.”
“I just don’t understand this argument,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “You want to say tariffs are not taxes, but that’s exactly what they are.”

Updated at 3.42pm GMT

3.29pm GMT

Solicitor general Sauer is getting pushed now by liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Jackson particularly took umbrage with Sauer’s argument that the Trump is able to enact tariffs to “regulate foreign powers”, despite the fact that Congress passed the IEEPA to limit the president’s authority.
“My point is that Congress enacted this legislation with the intent of preventing the president from having unlimited powers in this area,” Jackson said. “And you’re asking us to now interpret that statute consistent with an understanding that Congress wanted to allow the president to do pretty much whatever he wanted in this area.”

Updated at 3.40pm GMT

3.17pm GMT
Schumer and Jeffries demand meeting with Trump as shutdown continues

The top congressional Democrats, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, have written to the president to demand a meeting as the government shutdown breaks records and enters day 36.
“We write to demand a bipartisan meeting of legislative leaders to end the GOP shutdown of the federal government and decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis,” Schumer, the Senate minority leader, and Jeffries, the House minority leader, wrote. “Democrats stand ready to meet with you face to face, anytime and anyplace.”

Updated at 3.20pm GMT

3.16pm GMT
Oral arguments begin in supreme court case on legality of Trump's tariffs

The supreme court has started to hear oral arguments for and against the legality of most of Donald Trump’s tariffs. “One would expect Congress to confer major powers on the president,” said ​D. John Sauer, solicitor general.
A reminder that the Trump​ administration cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law which in some circumstances grants the president authority to regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency, as he slapped steep duties on imports into the US.
The supreme court – controlled by a rightwing supermajority that was crafted by Trump – will review whether the IEEPA grants the president the authority to levy a tariff, a word not mentioned in the law. Congress is granted sole authority under the constitution to levy taxes.
The court has until the end of its term, in July 2026, to issue a ruling on the case.

Updated at 3.40pm GMT

3.03pm GMT
Top Democrats congratulate Mamdani on victory in New York mayoral election

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, and Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, both extended congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on winning the New York mayoral election. Notably, both lawmakers represent the Empire state.
“The American people are fed up with the high cost of living, broken promises, Republican attacks on healthcare, GOP corruption and the unprecedented attack on our way of life,” Jeffries said, while also congratulating Democratic victors in other races, like the gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey.
Schumer, who never formally endorsed Mamdani and kept quiet about who he voted for in the election, said that the 34-year-old’s win was a “well-earned” and “historic victory”.
“We have worked together on a number of vital issues – like delivering historic debt relief for taxi drivers. I look forward to building on that partnership to keep NYC strong, fair, more affordable and thriving,” he added.
The Senate minority leader also called the wider sweep of Democratic successes across the country a “repudiation of the Trump agenda”.

Updated at 3.16pm GMT

2.43pm GMT
Supreme court to hear arguments in case over legality of Trump's sweeping tariffs

In a short while, we’ll bring you the latest from the supreme court, where the justices will hear arguments in a case that challenges the legality of the president’s sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries.
The question at the heart of the case is whether the Trump administration’s tariffs violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law which allows the president authority to “regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency”.
The arguments, according to the docket, are scheduled to last 80 minutes. But they are likely to last much longer, as is often the case in many of these closely watched hearings.

2.24pm GMT
'Not sure it was good for anybody': Trump reacts to Dem sweep on election night

As he hosted Republican senators at the White House, Trump offered some initial thoughts on the Democratic victories across the country on election night.
“Last night, it was not expected to be a victory, it was very Democrat areas. But I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” he said. “I’m not sure it was good for anybody.”
He added: “We had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot, and we’re going to talk about that.”

2.03pm GMT
President lambasts filibuster as he hosts GOP lawmakers

Donald Trump has continued his relentless criticism of the filibuster – the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate on legislation and bring a bill to the floor for a vote.
In recent days, the president has posted up a storm on social media, urging Republican lawmakers to abolish the procedural maneuver (which they have described as an important legislative safeguard) on the grounds that Democrats would do the same, and would use it to advance their own agenda if they were given the opportunity. “They’re going to pack the court, they’re going to make DC a state, and they’re going to make Puerto Rico a state,” Trump said.
Despite explicit reticence from GOP leaders on Capitol Hill, the president pushed the virtues of a filibuster-free Congress today.
“We have to get the country going. We will pass legislation at levels you’ve never seen before, and it will be impossible to beat us,” he said. “They’ll [Democrats] most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine.”

Updated at 2.06pm GMT

1.44pm GMT
Trump continues to spread baseless claims about mail-in voting

At a breakfast with Republican senators at the White House, Trump continued to spread baseless claims that mail-in ballots are “automatically corrupt”.
“We should pass no mail in voting. We should pass all the things that we want to pass make our election secure and safe,” Trump said.
Voting experts have routinely pushed back against the president’s claims that this type of voting is less secure than in-person voting. Trump, himself, has voted by mail in the recent past.

1.39pm GMT
Government shutdown enters day 36, breaking a record as impasse on the hill continues

Today marks day 36 of the ongoing government shutdown – now the longest on record.
Lawmakers remain at an impasse, with few signs of letting up. On Tuesday, the Senate failed – for the 14th time – to pass a stopgap funding bill to reopen the government.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans continue to blame Democrats for stopping business as usual. The president has also urged top GOP lawmakers to abolish the filibuster, despite their explicit reluctance.

Updated at 2.04pm GMT

1.25pm GMT
Election night jubilation - with Ocasio-Cortez and Lander at the victory party

Here’s a look at some of the pictures from New York, as Zohran Mamdani was elected the next mayor of the city.

1.11pm GMT
Trump to host GOP senators for White House breakfast

In a short while, we’ll hear from Donald Trump when he hosts a breakfast with Republican senators at the White House. As we noted earlier, the president had choice words about Mamdani’s victory in New York, and other Democratic wins across the country – including the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.
That’s due to start at 8.30am ET, and we’ll bring you the latest lines.
Later, Trump will fly to Miami and give a speech at the America Business Forum, which we’ll cover as it happens.

Updated at 2.04pm GMT

1.06pm GMT
Democrats swept several ballots yesterday

Democratic victory in yesterday’s two state governor races has boosted morale for a party bruised by Trump’s return to the White House.
The votes on Tuesday were seen as a referendum on Trump’s explosive presidency so far – and wins in the governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as the approval of a measure to redraw voting lines in California, will be encouraging to a party looking for a way back into power at the 2026 midterms.

Related: Democrat Abigail Spanberger elected governor of Virginia

Related: Democrat Mikie Sherrill elected governor of New Jersey

However those Congressional elections are still a year away, and analysts note that New Jersey and Virginia – where Democrats Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won – are Democrat-leaning regions anyway.
Still, the winning candidates could rejuvenate the party and inspire more engagement from dispirited voters. The turnout in New York for Mamdani was the highest since 1969.

Updated at 1.25pm GMT

12.48pm GMT

Let’s take a look at the breakdown of the vote across the New York boroughs:Mamdani was able to build a broad coalition of supporters across several bases – everyone from working-class immigrants to younger, liberal voters. Across the city, they turned out in droves – and this surge triumphed over Cuomo’s base which was boosted by Republican voters.
It was such a landslide that within 35 minutes of the polls closing, Associated Press had called the race for the city’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest in a century.

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Updated at 1.25pm GMT

12.35pm GMT
Trump's reaction throughout the night

Even though the races yesterday were local – at state and city hall levels – the US president weighed in, in particular targeting Mamdani’s New York mayoral campaign.
Trump hurled some invectives at the 11th hour – urging people to vote for the former disgraced New York governor Cuomo instead of Mamdani and calling the 34-year-old Muslim leftist a “Jew hater”.
And as the results flooded in last night, showing also victories for Democrat governor candidates in two states, Trump was firing on Truth Social.
He blamed the Republican defeats on unnamed “pollsters” suggesting factors were the ongoing government shutdown and the absence of his own pulling power.

“TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,” according to Pollsters”

And then, as Mamdani was railing against Trump’s divisive politics in his victory speech, Trump posted another line on Truth Social:

“… AND SO IT BEGINS!”

Updated at 12.41pm GMT

12.13pm GMT
‘Absolutely ecstatic’: New Yorkers celebrate with cheers, tears and DSA chants

Mamdani will be the first Muslim mayor of New York and its youngest in over a century – but not its first immigrant mayor, nor its first mayor to champion socialist ideals. New Yorkers celebrated his monumental election at official and unofficial parties spread across the five boroughs.
My colleagues Sam Wolfson, Alaina Demopoulos and Saam Niami were at various scenes:
At a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) party in Brooklyn, supporters erupted shortly after the race was called at 9.30pm. The DJ immediately started playing I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas. Tonight was a good, good night for those in the room, who erupted in tears, hugs and twerking.
“This just shows that our politics are not radical, that New Yorkers actually think what we believe is sensible, and maybe the rest of the country is ready for sensible, commonsense, Democratic socialism,” said 40-year-old health department worker Will, a DSA member for years.
With the dancefloor in full swing, Ellie, a 28-year-old bartender from Bed-Stuy, said she felt “absolutely ecstatic”.

This is the first time we’ve had hope in so long.

These are the people who fought for Mamdani when he was polling at 1%, who celebrated his socialist principles when others said they disqualified him.
Meanwhile hundreds queued up on the sidewalk outside another DSA watch party, cheering and holding signs, and, in the case of one woman, a cardboard cutout of Mamdani.
The crowd was a genuine mix: Black, white, brown, young folks and old folks, party gays, butch lesbians, bridge-and-tunnel kids who couldn’t even vote in the election but felt its reverberations nonetheless.
Amber Pease, 25, lives in Nassau county in Long Island. Her inability to cast a vote didn’t stop her from traveling in to volunteer for Zohran’s campaign. She wants to get a job and move into the city soon.

“I’ve been waiting to see a good progressive candidate, and to have one so close to home, it gives me a lot of hope.”

Updated at 12.16pm GMT

11.47am GMT
Mamdani has sealed a remarkable victory but the real challenge lies ahead

After more than a year of promises about freezing rent and making childcare free, Zohran Mamdani wakes on Wednesday with a daunting task ahead of him: make those things reality for New York City.
The 34-year-old democratic socialist ran New York’s most ambitious mayoral campaign in years, attracting hundreds of thousands of supporters with bold promises to make the largest US city affordable.
It was a campaign that made Mamdani a global sensation and invigorated many New Yorkers like never before, attracting almost 100,000 volunteers. Mamdani rejuvenated the left beyond New York’s borders, encouraging other progressives to run for office across the US, and could yet influence the Democratic party ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
The flip side, however, is clear: the residents of New York have had their hopes set incredibly high, and now Mamdani has to deliver.
“I think for New Yorkers, it is a small light in what has been an overwhelming era of darkness,” said Usamah Andrabi, communications director at the progressive Justice Democrats organization.

Related: Zohran Mamdani faces a daunting task: making New York affordable

11.30am GMT
'A local victory' that offers resistance to Washington

Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral race caps a meteoric and unlikely rise, from anonymous state lawmaker to one of the country’s most visible Democratic figures. He is a figure on the left being watched internationally.
When the race was called in his favor last night, excitement was palpable across NYC.
It was a “local victory” that offered a means of “resisting and pushing back” against Washington’s political establishment, Ben Parisi, 40, told AFP.
The mood, he added, was a significant contrast to last year’s Trump victory.

11.22am GMT
Mamdani triumphs on strong night for the Democrats

It was an encouraging night for the left in America with Democratic wins in three key races sending a warning signal to Trump ahead of midterms next year.
The key takeaways:

Zohran Mamdani is the mayor-elect of New York City with a commanding victory over former governor Andrew Cuomo. With more than 97% of the votes counted, the 34-year-old received more votes – at least 1.03 million – than all the other candidates combined, including Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Democrats also won two key state governor races with Abigail Spanberger triumphing in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey.
California passed Proposition 50, a measure which will temporarily redistrict the state in hopes of countering Republican efforts to do the same in Texas. The new maps could help Democrats pick up five additional seats in the US House of Representatives.
President Donald Trump distanced himself from the losses, suggesting on social media that the Republican defeats were due to the government shutdown and because his own name was not on the ballot.
As Mamdani delivered his victory speech, the president also posted a cryptic missive: “AND SO IT BEGINS!”.
Mamdani directly challenged Trump in his victory speech in Brooklyn, vowing to use his role to counter his politics of division. “Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up.”

11.17am GMT
Dawn of a leftist mayor

Good morning – it is the dawn of a new era in New York City where many are celebrating after a decisive mayoral race victory for Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor and at 34, the youngest to serve in more than a century.
In an exultant speech at his victory party last night, Mamdani took it to Trump directly, saying he knew the Republican president was watching.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”
“In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light.”
Let’s get into it.

Updated at 11.50am GMT