US President Donald Trump is heading into another consequential Supreme Court term, with the justices set to consider cases that could further define how much power an American president can wield.
The nine-member court, which begins its new nine-month term on Monday, has a 6-3 conservative majority. Three of those justices were appointed by Trump during his first presidency.
But that has not guaranteed Trump victories.
During the court’s last term, the justices gave him major wins that strengthened presidential control over parts of the US government, while rejecting some of his most consequential policies, including his sweeping global tariffs and attempt to restrict birthright citizenship. The court also stopped him from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Now another wave of Trump policies is making its way toward the highest US court.
Two major cases already accepted by the justices involve Trump’s immigration crackdown. One concerns his policy of detaining certain immigrants without bond hearings while they await deportation proceedings.
Another involves the government’s ability to quickly deport migrants to countries other than their own.
The Trump administration has also asked the Supreme Court to take up disputes involving its ban on transgender people serving in the military, cuts to academic research grants, appointments of federal prosecutors and suspension of asylum at the US-Mexico border.
The cases could help determine where the court draws the line between powers belonging to the president and those reserved for Congress under the US Constitution.
Last term offered a mixed picture.
In one landmark ruling, the Supreme Court overturned a precedent dating to 1935 and gave Trump greater power to remove officials at independent federal agencies. But the court carved out stronger protection for the Federal Reserve, refusing to let Trump remove Cook while her case proceeded.
It also struck down Trump’s global tariffs, ruling that the emergency law he relied upon did not give him the sweeping tariff authority he claimed.
And in June, the court rejected Trump’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship, ruling that his directive violated the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Legal experts say the decisions suggest the conservative court is receptive to broad presidential authority in some areas but can push back when it concludes that the president has exceeded powers granted by Congress.
“It’s not a rubber stamp, and it’s not the resistance,” Supreme Court lawyer Morgan Ratner told Reuters.
Trump, however, has publicly criticized some of the conservative justices he appointed.
He recently said he regretted choosing Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, criticizing rulings that went against his administration. Their appointments during Trump’s first term helped create the court’s current 6-3 conservative majority.
The court has shifted US law significantly in recent years, including on abortion, guns, religion, affirmative action and the powers of federal regulators.
Its new term could add another major chapter, this time by further defining the limits of presidential power as Trump continues to test how far the executive branch can go.
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Trump helped build the US Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority. But that doesn’t mean he always gets his way. After major wins and losses, the justices are preparing for another round of cases testing just how far presidential power can go.
He appointed three of them, then blasted them when they ruled against him. Donald Trump returns to the US Supreme Court with immigration and other major policies that could further define the limits of presidential power.
Not quite Trump’s court. The US president appointed three Supreme Court justices and helped cement its conservative majority, but the court has also delivered some of his biggest legal defeats.