A steaming-mad President Donald Trump is still trying to process a major blow the U.S. Supreme Court dealt his economic agenda, striking down his sweeping global tariff policy.
Adding insult to injury, states are now demanding the return of billions of dollars in levies the federal government collected over the past year under Trump’s policy.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is poking Trump, his bitter political enemy, in the eye at the worst possible time, immediately sending the administration a letter Friday, Feb. 20, and a literal invoice, demanding the return of $8.6 billion Pritzker says was “stolen” from Illinois families under Trump’s tariff policy.
The move follows the high court’s decision in a 6-3 ruling Friday morning that Trump exceeded his authority in levying tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
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The tariffs are essentially a tax on Americans and U.S. businesses because they drive up the costs of imported goods, transferring the price increases onto consumers.
And that’s what the court ruled: that the tariffs are a tax on Americans and only Congress has that power, but the panel’s decision did not include specifics on what types of tariffs the president could legally implement, if any, or on returning the tens of billions already collected.
In a letter to the White House, addressed to Trump, Pritzker accused the President of wreaking havoc on farmers, enraging allies, and sending grocery prices “through the roof.”
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“I demand a refund of $1,700 for every family in Illinois. There are 5,105,448 households in my state, bringing the total damages you owe to families to $8,679,261,600,” he wrote, alongside an invoice from “The People of the Great State of Illinois.” The invoice is stamped, “PAST DUE-DELINQUENT.”
Social media spiraled into a frenzy, piling on.
“This is the clap back of all clap backs! Sheeeeesh! Love to see it!” this Threads user agreed.
Another chimed in, “Adding the invoice with ‘Past Due -Delinquent’ was icing on the cake! Brilliant move.”
“Damn! @govpritzker mic drop. You had that sucker ready to deliver!!!” still another commented in support.
The letter follows a raging feud between Pritzker and Trump that erupted into public view after Trump returned for his second term last January and sent National Guard troops and ICE agents into Chicago last year.
Trump stoked the fire continuously with his latest volley in January when he posted a mocking AI-generated meme on social media depicting Pritzker in a burning city with homeless encampments and holding a burger in one hand with a sign in the other that read: “Chicago doesn’t need help. We have everything under control,” according to The Hill.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, not to be outdone, piled on, also demanding a tariff refund for California families, “with interest.”
“Time to pay the piper, Donald. These tariffs were nothing more than an illegal cash grab that drove up prices and hurt working families, so you could wreck longstanding alliances and extort them. Every dollar unlawfully taken must be refunded immediately — with interest. Cough up!” Newsom demanded in a press release following the court’s ruling.
Trump bypassed Congress last April to enact sweeping tariffs through executive orders on almost every U.S. trading partner, claiming he had the right to do so under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to levy tariffs, not the President. And under IEEPA, the President can only “regulate” imports and exports in a national emergency in responding to an “extraordinary foreign threat.”
Trump said Friday afternoon that he would impose a 10 percent global tariff, which he followed through by signing an executive order to that effect that evening. By Saturday morning he announced he would increase that figure to 15 percent. Although the details of the alternative plan are unclear, under the executive order, the new tariffs are implemented under a law that limits them to 150 days unless renewed by Congress. The high court struck down only the tariffs Trump enacted under IEEPA.
