Everyone is shocked and will forget by tomorrow when they lie again.
Hoping for a tariff refund? Don’t hold your breath. Winning at the Supreme Court was the easy part. To understand what comes next, consider how the government survived the legal skirmishes that led to its loss last week.
From the earliest challenges at the Court of International Trade, Justice Department lawyers made one consistent argument against preliminary injunctions: “Plaintiffs face no harm from a stay; they can fully remedy any harms by obtaining a refund of any tariffs ultimately held invalid,” to quote a 2025 government motion. Justice Department lawyers entered formal stipulations in Princess Awesome v. CBP and a January 2026 consolidated proceeding, each promising not to contest the court’s authority to order reliquidation after a final decision. The courts denied the injunctions, refusing to suspend liquidation (the process that finalizes tariff payments) in direct reliance on those assurances. Yet the government now appears ready to litigate those very promises.