October 29, 2025 3:50 a.m. 

This week Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said he is leading Senate and House colleagues in filing a bipartisan brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in the consolidated case challenging President Donald Trump’s use of the International Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on imported goods.

A release said the tariffs imposed have raised average tariffs to their highest rate since the Great Depression and added more than $1,800 to costs for an average household. The brief argues that the Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the sole authority to impose tariffs and regulate commerce with foreign nations. The brief argues that the IEEPA, enacted in 1977, does not authorize tariffs. It urges the Supreme Court to reaffirm Congress’s authority over tariff policy and to strike down what it claims is President Trump’s misuse of IEEPA.

In addition to Merkley, and Oregon House members Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas and Maxine Dexter, the brief was signed by 33 Senators and 168 U.S. Representatives.