The Dictatorship

States sue over Trump’s new global tariffs

Published

2 months ago

March 7, 2026

States sue over Trump’s new global tariffs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some two dozen states challenged President Donald Trump’s new global tariffs on Thursday, filing a lawsuit over import taxes he imposed after a stinging loss at the Supreme Court.

The Democratic attorneys general and governors in the lawsuit argue that Trump is overstepping his power with planned 15% tariffs on much of the world.

Trump has said the tariffs are essential to reduce America’s longstanding trade deficits. He imposed duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs he imposed last year under an emergency powers law.

Section 122, which has never been invoked, allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15%. They are limited to five months unless extended by Congress.

The lawsuit is led by attorneys general from Oregon, Arizona, California and New York.

“The focus right now should be on paying people back, not doubling down on illegal tariffs,” said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. The suit comes a day after a judge ruled t hat companies who paid tariffs under Trump’s old framework should get refunds.

White House vows vigorous defense

The White House said Trump is acting within his power. “The President is using his authority granted by Congress to address fundamental international payments problems and to deal with our country’s large and serious balance-of-payments deficits,” said spokesman Kush Desai. “The Administration will vigorously defend the President’s action in court.”

The new suit argues that Trump can’t pivot to Section 122 because it was intended to be used only in specific, limited circumstances — not for sweeping import taxes. It also contends the tariffs will drive up costs for states, businesses and consumers.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes pointed to a New York Federal Reserve Bank study that found Americans largely bear the cost of the tariffs, which has been estimated at $1,200 a year per household. “That is money out of the pockets of American families trying to buy groceries, pay rent and keep their small businesses afloat,” Mayes said.

Many of the plaintiff states also successfully sued over Trump’s tariffs imposed under a different law: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Four days after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping IEEPA tariffs Feb. 20, Trump invoked Section 122 to slap 10% tariffs on foreign goods. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Wednesday that the administration would raise the levies to the 15% limit this week.

The Democratic states and other critics say the president can’t use Section 122 as a replacement for the defunct tariffs to combat the trade deficit.

The Section 122 provision is aimed at what it calls “fundamental international payments problems.’’ At issue is whether that wording covers trade deficits, the gap between what the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them.

Section 122 arose from the financial crises that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s when the U.S. dollar was tied to gold. Other countries were dumping dollars in exchange for gold at a set rate, risking a collapse of the U.S. currency and chaos in financial markets. But the dollar is no longer linked to gold, so critics say Section 122 is obsolete.

Awkwardly for Trump, his own Justice Department argued in a court filing last year that the president needed to invoke the emergency powers act because Section 122 did “not have any obvious application’’ in fighting trade deficits, which it called “conceptually distinct’’ from balance-of-payment issues.

Still, some legal analysts say the Trump administration has a stronger case this time.

“The legal reality is that courts will likely provide President Trump substantially more deference regarding Section 122 than they did to his previous tariffs under IEEPA,’’ Peter Harrell, visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Institute of International Economic Law, wrote in a commentary Wednesday.

The specialized Court of International Trade in New York, which will hear the states’ lawsuit, wrote last year in its own decision striking down the emergency-powers tariffs that Trump didn’t need them because Section 122 was available to combat trade deficits.

Trump does have other legal authorities he can use to impose tariffs, and some have already survived court tests. Duties that Trump imposed on Chinese imports during his first term under Section 301 of the same 1974 trade act are still in place.

Also joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

___

This story has been edited to correct the spelling of the name of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, not Bessant.

The Dictatorship

In the wake of the Virginia ruling, where does the national redistricting arms race stand?

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

In the wake of the Virginia ruling, where does the national redistricting arms race stand?

In Virginia, a majority of the House of Delegates voted to approve a new congressional district map that was designed to help Democrats add as many as four seats in the U.S. House. A majority of the state Senate agreed, as did the commonwealth’s popularly elected governor. The issue then went to the people of Virginia, and a majority of voters backed the redistricting initiative, too.

A majority of the Virginia Supreme Court, however, rejected the plan anyway. MS NOW reported:

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved congressional redistricting plan, ruling that Democrats violated constitutional procedures when placing the referendum on the ballot for last month’s special election. […]

In its 4-3 decision, the court on Friday found that the process used to place the amendment on the ballot did not comply with Virginia’s constitutional rules governing how such proposals must be approved by the legislature before being presented to voters. As a result, the justices upheld a lower court ruling that blocks the amendment from being certified and implemented.

For Democratic efforts on the national level, the ruling is an unexpected gut punch, especially given the fact that after Virginia voters approved the overhauled map last month, it appeared that Democrats would be able to keep pace with the GOP as part of the broader redistricting fight.

What’s more, the state Supreme Court ruling comes on the heels of a similarly brutal blow after Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices gutted the Voting Rights Act, which opened the door even further to an intensified Republican effort to erase majority-Black congressional districts in the South.

Given all of this, it’s easy to imagine many Americans responding to the head-spinning developments with a simple question: “So where do things stand now?”

Before we dig in on that, it’s worth pausing to acknowledge the absurdity of the circumstances. For generations, states redrew congressional district lines after the decennial census. There were limited exceptions, but in nearly all of those instances, mid-decade redistricting only happened when courts told states that their maps were unlawful and needed to be redone.

The idea that politicians would simply choose to start redrawing maps, in the middle of a decade, in pursuit of partisan advantages, was practically unheard of.

Last year, however, Donald Trump, fearing the results of the 2026 midterm elections and the possible accountability that would result from Democratic victories, decided that the American model needed to be discarded. It was time, the president said, to pursue what one White House official described as a campaign of “maximum warfare” in which Republican officials in key states would embrace gerrymandering without regard for fairness, norms, traditions or propriety.

The goal was simple: Deliver Republican victories in congressional races long before Americans had a chance to cast their ballots.

The result was an arms race that’s still going on — and here’s where things stand.

A map of the United States highlighting states that have redrawn their congressional maps — As of May 8, 2026. *Virginia’s voter-approved congressional redistricting plan was struck down by the Virginia Supreme Court Ben King / MS NOW; Source: MaddowBlog election analysis

Texas: Republicans in the Lone Star State got the ball rolling last summer, acting at Trump’s behest and approving a map designed to give Republicans five additional U.S. House seats. It touched off the national arms race.

California: Responding to Texas, Democratic officials in the Golden State, as well as the state’s voters, approved a map of their own designed to give Democrats five additional U.S. House seats.

Missouri: In September, state Republicans approved a map designed to give the GOP one additional seat.

North Carolina: In October, state Republicans approved a map designed to give Republicans one additional seat.

Ohio: While the redistricting effort in the Buckeye State wasn’t as brazen as it was elsewhere, Ohio’s new map diluted two Democratic-held districts, creating GOP pickup opportunities.

Utah: A state court approved a new map that will likely give Democrats one additional seat.

Florida: Just this week, Republicans completed the process on a new map designed to give Republicans as many as four additional seats.

Tennessee: Also this week, Republicans approved a new map designed to give Republicans one additional seat, taking advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.

Louisiana: While the newly redrawn map in the Pelican State hasn’t been formally unveiled, it will reportedly add one additional Republican seat.

Alabama: Republicans are currently moving forward with plans for a map that would give Republicans two more seats.

It’s important to emphasize that some of these maps are currently facing legal challenges, while others are still taking shape. Most of these maps would take effect during this year’s election cycle, but there’s still some uncertainty surrounding the implementation date in some states.

Nevertheless, the Virginia map that enjoyed popular public support was prepared to help mitigate an unprecedented Republican abuse. The state Supreme Court in the commonwealth appears to have removed that option.

After Virginia voters had their say, many GOP officials questioned whether the entire gerrymandering gambit had been a waste of time and effort. In the aftermath of two highly controversial court rulings, Republicans are suddenly feeling a lot better about the whole scheme.

The Dictatorship

You asked, Joe answered

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

May. 8, 2026, 12:39 PM EDT

This is the May 8, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe hereto get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.

This Mother’s Day, I’ll be thinking about my mom, Mary Jo Scarboroughjust as I do every day.

I wrote about Mom in the Washington Post the week she died in 2019:

My first memory of Mom was her comforting presence at my side while a late night thunderstorm roared over our neighborhood in suburban Atlanta.

Mom softly sang “Where Is Love?” from the musical “Oliver!” and then told me how reciting the 23rd Psalm aloud would bring peace.

I may not have felt that blessed assurance as a 4-year-old, but my mother’s presence always brought peace.

Mom and I were emotionally inseparable for 55 years, and as she lay dying, I wanted her life to end the way my memories of her began. I quietly told her she would continue living on in the hearts of those she loved, and that more importantly, she would soon be reunited with Dad.

I knew Mom could hear my quiet words, just as I knew what she would whisper back if she could:

“Joey, be more careful with your words. If you keep talking down Republicans, you might just elect a Democrat.”

That was Mom. A steel magnolia. A Southern Baptist. A traditional Republican.

She would scarcely recognize her church or party seven years later, and would tell me to keep up the fight she helped me begin 32 years ago when I first ran for Congress.

“Judge yourself by your enemies, Joey,” she would say when things got tough. Then she’d say, “Don’t let them get the best of you. Keep fighting!”

Mom was raised an FDR Democrat and couldn’t stand extremists on any side.

She would especially be offended by the excessive cruelty of right-wing politicians who justify their hatred of others by twisted views of what they call “Christianity.”

Faith always eclipsed politics in our home. And when things got too crazy in Washington, Mom would quote an old gospel song: “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.”

Well, Mom, I’m so grateful that I was part of your journey on this Earth. And on this Mother’s Day weekend, I thank you for continuing to be a part of my life for as long as I’m blessed to live.

I love you,

Joey

ON THE CALENDAR

In New York, the Macy’s Flower Show wraps its final weekend at Herald Square — store windows in full bloom, stained-glass sunsets, fabric-draped planters. A perfect Mother’s Day outing. Go before it’s gone.

In the nation’s capital, the Arab American Culture Festival returns to Eighth Street for its fourth year, with food from places such as Morocco and Palestine, dabke dance troupes, and live Arabic music.

In the Windy City, Broadway’s longest-running musical, “Chicago,” brings its Jazz Age murder trials and celebrity media circus home for five nights at The Auditorium.

Atlanta’s”https://www.sweetauburn.com/faq”> Sweet Auburn Springfest turns 40 this weekend — four decades of culture, music, and community in the neighborhood that gave the Civil Rights Movement its heartbeat.

You can’t spell “laugh” without L.A. and “ugh” — or so says Netflix Is a Joke. The stand-up comedy festival takes over Hollywood this weekend with 350 shows: Jenny Slate, John Mulaney, Jerry Seinfeldand more.

Myrtle Beach Bike Week descends on the Grand Strand for 10 days this weekend, bringing half a million riders and considerably more leather than the average beach vacation.

The NBA Conference Semifinals are on all weekend. Knicks vs. Sixers on Friday and Sunday. Pistons vs. Cavaliers on Saturday. Thunder vs. Lakers Saturday night on ABC.

In Buffalo, the Sabres host the Canadiens Sunday on ESPN, in their first playoff appearance in 14 years.

And the Red Sox are home at Fenway against Tampa Bay.

Now, let’s check some mail.

MAILBAG

Thank you again to all our readers who wrote in this week. As always, you’re welcome to write to us any time.

I just want to thank you for naming the “Ballroom” the Marie Antoinette Ballroom. It is so appropriate. If [Sen. Lindsey] Graham is successful in making us pay for it, what happens to the $300 million in donations? Does Trump pocket it?

— Katherine G., Moorhead, Minn.

If past is prologue, we can assume the president will try to pocket any money he has raised for his own use. The bigger question for me is why Republican leaders were so tone-deaf that they voluntarily proposed taking $1 billion from taxpayers to fund this grotesque vanity project.

With gas prices skyrocketing, healthcare bills becoming more expensive by the day, and groceries taking a huge bite out of working Americans’ paychecks, a Marie Antoinette-style ballroom is the last thing most Americans want or need.

If there is a reduction in Social Security and Medicare coming, why should I, as a retiree and disabled veteran, be happy for the U.S. government to allocate $400 million for an unneeded ballroom and funds for an arch that is not needed?

— Joe W., Warsaw, Wis.

Thank you for your service to America, Joe.

You can look at my answer above to your question as well. Also, add to that the record deficits and crippling debt that Trump Republicans are passing on to Americans every day.

This week, America’s debt surpassed our country’s gross domestic product for the only time since World War II. Golden ballrooms and gaudy arches are the last thing America needs right now.

Republicans are spending like drunken socialists and they need to stop now. The cost to the next generation will be devastating.

Do you think it’s too late to save America? The government gets more out of touch every day. Even if Democrats win in November, so much damage has already been done. Thanks.

— Curtis E., Charlotte, N.C.

Curtis, America has survived slavery, 48 recessions, a civil war, Jim Crow laws, two world wars, Japanese internment camps, 1960s riots, Vietnam, Watergate, 9/11, two pandemics, and more crises than I can list here.

We will survive the challenges facing us now as well. We must remain vigilant and determined, and keep our heads about us. America is worth the struggle, especially when we have Madison’s Constitution and 250 years of history on our side.

If the “mutual destruction” argument worked to keep nuclear bombs off the list of Russian options for so many years, why doesn’t that argument work against the Iranians?

— Pat Q., Troy, Ohio

Because Iranian leaders who have ruled that country by terror since 1979 know they are fighting for their very lives.

For Donald Trumpthe stakes are midterm elections that matter little to him. Still, as gas approaches $5 a gallon nationally, the political pressure for Trump to cut and run is becoming too great. That’s why the president ignored repeated Iranian attacks on U.S. warships and called our countermeasures a “love tap.”

What a weak, dangerous message to send to our enemies. Let’s hope the president shows real strength soon. Our national security depends on it.

ONE MORE SHOT

Sean Levey (in red), riding Secret Santa, wins the Ascot Hospitality Handicap Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, England.

That’s all the time we have, folks.

Thanks so much for your letters and for reading The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe.

Have a great weekend.

Joe

CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE

The Dictatorship

The Iran war’s unexpected victims: American farmers

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

May. 8, 2026, 12:29 PM EDT

John Bartman knows the challenges of being a farmer. His family has been tilling Illinois soil since James K. Polk sat in the Oval Office, weathering droughts, trade disputes, market crashes and a Civil War in the process.

But now, with Donald Trump behind the Resolute Desk, fertilizer shipments have been halted through the Strait of Hormuz — a choke point for roughly one-third of the world’s fertilizer supply — and the resulting price spike is causing Bartman’s profits to disappear.

After years of turmoil for American farmers, “it’s just another straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Bartman said.

New data from the American Farm Bureau Federationan agricultural lobbying firm, warns that Bartman isn’t alone: Some 70% of American farmers may be unable to afford all the fertilizer their fields require.

It’s the latest in a series of economic headwinds that have slammed the U.S. agricultural industry over the past decade, causing farm bankruptcies to jump 46% from 2024 to 2025. The AFBF reported that this year 58% of its members said their financial situation had worsened since early 2025, while just 6% reported improvement.

Map: Carson Elm-Picard / MS NOW; Source: American Farm Bureau Federation

“Many farms were broadly in a situation of net negative margins, where they’re losing money, and this just compounds the problem,” Shawn Arita, the associate director of North Dakota State University’s Agricultural Risk Policy Center, said of the fertilizer shortage. “It was a very difficult situation before March 1, and now it’s certainly a lot more challenging.”

The shortage has caused the price of fertilizer jump from around $400 per ton in January to more than $600 per ton this week, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The impact of those high prices won’t be felt evenly across the U.S. — only 19% of Southern farmers preordered fertilizer before the price increased, compared with 30% in the Northeast, 31% in the West and 67% in the Midwest, according to the AFBF.

Chart: Carson Elm-Picard / MS NOW; Source: American Farm Bureau Federation

Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, have sought to downplay the severity of the inflation.

Rollins told Fox Business that “America has plenty of fertilizer” for its farmers, and Vance acknowledged the shortage but dismissed the conflict behind the inflation as “a little blip in the Middle East” during a speech on Tuesday. That same day, Rubio echoed Rollins’ claimsaying that it was only Iran’s fertilizer, not the United States’, that was stranded in the Persian Gulf.

While the U.S. is a major exporter of fertilizer globally, it still produces only about 9% of the global supply and remains a net importer of the good, according to the USDA, meaning that supply chain disruptions on the other side of the world still affect domestic market prices.

That could be why Rollins is now considering reviving a Biden-era initiative that pledged $900 million to funding the construction of new fertilizer plants in the U.S. That initiative, the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, was eliminated during Trump’s second term “due to Presidential Executive Orders,” according to the USDA website.

Even if the initiative was resuscitated or the Strait of Hormuz reopened tomorrow, farmers would be paying inflated prices through 2027, even into 2028, Arita said. Rep. Don Bacon., R-Neb., a member of the House Agriculture Committee, told MS NOW that the Trump administration should “re-examine their tariff policies” to alleviate the strain on farmers, but did not comment on the effects of the Iran War.

Chart: Carson Elm-Picard / MS NOW; Source: American Farm Bureau Federation

Another committee member, Rep. April McClain Delaney, D-Md., said the high fertilizer prices are “reflective of a much larger crisis” caused by the Trump administration — one that has already hit her constituents.

“Farmers in my district are facing tough choices about whether they can afford to plant at all,” said Delaney, who represents Maryland’s largely rural 6th Congressional District. “This administration’s reckless actions and the flawed farm bill are failing our farmers.”

The House Agriculture Committee’s Republican leadership, Chairman Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania and Vice Chairman Austin Scott of Georgia, did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

Fertilizer inflation isn’t the only thing pushing up costs for farmers; diesel prices in the U.S. have jumped from about $3.80 at the start of the war to more than $5.60 as of May 4 , according to USDA data. That in turn has made it more expensive for all farmers to do business — even small growers like Leah Dannar-Garcia, an organic farmer in Wichita, Kansas, who doesn’t use synthetic fertilizer.

“Farms have been just hanging on with the soybean debacle last year,” Dannar-Garcia said, referring to the Trump administration’s $20 billion bailout of Argentinawhich spurred China to reduce its U.S. agricultural imports. “It’s had a devastating effect.”

As a soybean farmer, Bartman was particularly affected by that decision. Arita said the situation now is having an “asymmetric impact” on American agriculturalists, as farmers are paying more to grow and sell their crops, but aren’t necessarily able to raise prices on consumers to match. That in turn leads to lost profit and endangered livelihoods.

“They’re running the American farmer into the ground and out of business,” Bartman said of the Trump administration. “The only thing that is cheaper today than three years ago in the United States is a bushel of soybeans.”

Adam Hudacek is a desk associate for MS NOW covering national politics in Washington, D.C.