Supreme Court blocks blanket emergency tariffs, putting taxing power back with Congress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEB. 20, 2026

BABCOCK RANCH, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2026) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that President Trump may no longer utilize the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to implement blanket, global tariffs.

CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE ALLEN SPENCE: This is one win in a much longer fight, and February 20 is the real Liberation Day. No president should be able to slap huge new taxes on working families and small businesses any way he wants, without a vote from our elected representatives in Congress.

While the Court blocked some tariffs, others stay in place under different laws. This leaves our local businesses stuck in confusion. They cannot plan for the future because they do not know what the tariff rates will be in three, six or 18 months. This illegal uncertainty is hurting our local economy.

Now, taxpayers may also have to pay for a messy refund process for tariffs that should never have been collected. This means more paperwork, more delays and more wasted government resources. This exercise could have been avoided if Congress had done its job before these tariffs hit.

Steube promotes policies that he says give supplemental support to Trump’s trade agenda. I am calling on Steube to introduce new bills that repeal the laws used to circumvent the people.

I am also demanding that Steube hold a town hall meeting. He needs to explain why he broke his vow to never increase taxes. He is letting these costs pass without a vote in Congress, ignoring the massive movement of workers fighting to keep their hard-earned money.

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