A first thought on the federal circuit's decision on tariffs

I'm writing this post well ahead of its appearance -- I'm writing on the evening of August 29, soon after the US Federal Circuit has upheld a decision in May by the Court of International Trade that the tariffs imposed by President Trump's executive orders in and since what the administration called "Liberation Day" (April 2), are without statutory mandates and so are in violation of the constitution's requirement that Congress determine taxes.

Full text of decision is freely available here: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-orders/25-1812.OPINION.8-29-2025_2566151.pdf The matter was heard en banc -- that is, the whole of the "bank" of the circuit, rather than the usual three-judge panel.

The whole bank broke down 7 to 4.

I of course applaud the result. Trump has long been "liberated" from any sense of economic reality or constitutional obligation but we ought to resist when he seeks to "liberate" the rest of us. I have not yet had the opportunity to study the specifics with care. All I wish to do tonight is to go over the question of who appointed whom. Which President appointed which of the judges of the federal circuit who voted in the majority of this decision?

The judges in the majority are (ordering by seniority) Alan Lourie, Timothy Dyk, Jimmy Reyna, Todd Hughes, Kara Stoll, Tiffany Cunningham, and Leonard Stark. The appointing Presidents are George H.W. Bush (Lourie), Bill Clinton (Prost), George W. Bush (Reyna), Barack Obama (Hughes and Stoll) and Joe Biden (Cunningham and Stark).

It is fascinating that every President since Reagan left town who has NOT been Donald Trump is represented within this majority.

God bless Lourie and Reyna for giving some respectable 'Republican' cover to this group in advance of the inevitable attacks.

Just a thought.

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