Washington Waves: Waterway News From D.C.
A federal court ruled against President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, rejecting his claim that presidents have such power under a 1977 emergency economic powers law.
Based in New York, the U.S. Court of International Trade stated that the Constitution authorizes Congress, not the president, to impose tariffs and regulate commerce with foreign nations.
The court said the president’s action on certain tariffs exceed the authority granted under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
“Because of the Constitution’s express allocation of the tariff power to Congress, we do not read IEEPA to delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the president,” the three-judge panel stated. “We instead read IEEPA’s provisions to impose meaningful limits on any such authority it confers.”
The administration is expected to appeal the decision.
“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “President Trump pledged to put America first, and the administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American greatness.”
Spending Bill Negotiations
President Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” drew criticism from Elon Musk, possibly boosting the measure’s congressional opponents.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it,” Musk told CBS News.
He added that the bill also “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful,” Musk said. “I don’t know if it can be both.”
In response, Trump conceded the bill, which narrowly passed the House and is to be taken up by the Senate, needs support.
“We will be negotiating that bill, and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it. That’s the way they go.”
After first urging the Senate not to waste time on getting the bill to his desk, Trump now acknowledges the Senate’s role.
“I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want,” the president told reporters over the weekend.
“It will go back to the House, and we’ll see if we can get them.”
Coast Guard Commandant
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, raised concerns over President Trump’s selection of Adm. Kevin Lunday to serve as the next Coast Guard commandant.
“The Coast Guard must move forward with the sexual assault and sexual harassment reforms and accountability measures that Admiral Lunday paused as acting commandant,” the Washington Democrat said.
Cantwell played a leading role in crafting legislation to help prevent sexual assault and harassment, protect survivors and hold perpetrators accountable that was included in the Coast Guard authorization act that passed the Senate in March.
She also expressed concern that Lunday’s leadership is redirecting people, ships and aircraft away from search and rescue, fishing vessel safety and Arctic missions, which she said hurts coastal communities and the maritime economy.
Multimodal Grants Program
The Department of Transportation (DOT) should improve transparency on advancing applications for possible awards in its Multimodal Project Discretionary Grants (MPDG) program, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In fiscal year 2023-2024, GAO found DOT lacked clear criteria and complete documentation of its rationale for advancing applications to the transportation secretary for possible award selection.
“As GAO found in prior reviews, DOT did not clearly describe how officials would identify ‘exemplary’ applications that would advance to the secretary for possible selection,” the report stated. “Additionally, GAO found that DOT did not document the rationale for the decisions to advance several applications that later received awards.”
GAO said such transparency was important because decisions made for an applicant in one program carry over into how DOT treats that applicant in other programs.
National Maritime Day
Proclaiming May 22 National Maritime Day, President Trump marked the vital roles merchant mariners play in the nation’s defense and economy as well as his efforts to reestablish U.S. dominance at sea.
“The United States is a proud maritime nation,” his proclamation stated. “Last month, I signed an Executive Order on Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance to spur investment in American shipbuilding, eliminate outdated regulations and expand merchant mariner training and education.”
The proclamation added these “reforms are critical to securing supply chains, protecting key trade routes and countering growing threats from foreign adversaries.”
Maritime Safety Committee
The State Department has scheduled a June 11 meeting, both in person and via teleconference, to prepare for the 110th session of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee to be held June 18-27 in London.
Open to the public, the session is set to begin at 9 a.m. at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and through Microsoft Teams.
To RSVP, participants should contact Lt. Emily Sysko at 202- 372-1376 or Emily.T.Sysko@uscg.mil to receive access information for in-person and virtual attendance.
