When the U.S. Supreme Court moved to curb a sitting president’s power, the lawyer standing at the center of the decision was the son of Indian immigrants who grew up believing—almost instinctively—in the authority of institutions and the promise of the Constitution.

That lawyer was Neal Katyal.

On February 20, the Court handed down a 6–3 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and related cases, striking down President Donald Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs. The decision reaffirmed a foundational constitutional principle: that only Congress—not the President—has the authority to impose taxes. For millions watching across the Indian diaspora, it was also a striking moment of representation—an Indian-American advocate successfully challenging presidential power at the highest court in the land.

Katyal, whose parents emigrated from India to the United States—his mother a physician, his father an engineer—served as lead counsel for small businesses arguing that the tariffs were unconstitutional. His central claim was as direct as it was consequential: tariffs are taxes, and emergency powers cannot be used to bypass Congress.

The Supreme Court agreed—completely.

“This was never about one president,” Katyal said after the ruling. “It was about the presidency—and whether our Constitution still means what it says.”

A Voice the Court Knows Well

For Katyal, the courtroom was familiar territory. Over the course of two decades, he has argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court—more than any minority lawyer in American history, surpassing even Thurgood Marshall. Few attorneys have shaped modern constitutional law so consistently, or across so many ideologically charged issues.

His work has spanned national security, civil liberties, voting rights, corporate law, climate litigation, and executive authority. He first came to national prominence in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, successfully challenging the Bush administration’s military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. More recently, he played a key role in defeating the “independent state legislature” theory in Moore v. Harper, a ruling widely seen as critical to safeguarding American democracy.

Bridging Two Worlds

Born in 1970, Katyal’s journey—from an immigrant household to the Supreme Court bar—mirrors the arc many Indian American families recognize: faith in education, public service, and the rule of law as vehicles for belonging. He attended Dartmouth College, earned his law degree at Yale Law School, and clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi and Justice Stephen Breyer.

Under President Obama, Katyal served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States, representing the federal government before the very Court where he now so often challenges executive power. Today, he is a partner at Milbank LLP and a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches national security law.

More Than a Trade Case

The immediate consequences of the February ruling are still unfolding. Businesses may seek refunds. Congress may reassess the reach of emergency economic powers. The White House has already moved to impose narrower tariffs under different authority.

But for Katyal—and for many in the Indian diaspora—the ruling resonates on a deeper level.

“As the son of immigrants,” he has often said, “there is something profoundly American about standing in court and telling the President that the law does not allow this.”

In an era defined by institutional strain and political polarization, that message—delivered by an Indian-American lawyer at the pinnacle of American power—carried far beyond the courtroom.

Related posts:

President Trump Says India Trade Deal Intact After Supreme Court’s Decision Striking Down Global Tariffs Indian American Neal Katyal Hails Ruling as Victory for Constitutional Limits Global Traders See Flicker of Hope as Trump’s Tariffs Head to Supreme Court Indian American Lawmakers Applaud Supreme Court’s 6-3 Ruling Striking Down President Trump’s Global Tariffs