The Supreme Court is set to resolve two major questions this week that could reshape presidential power and reshape how America grants citizenship to children born on U.S. soil.
Justices will weigh whether President Trump can unilaterally end birthright citizenship, a constitutional guarantee that has granted citizenship to virtually all children born in the country for over 150 years. The question tests the limits of executive authority on one of the nation's most fundamental legal principles.
In a separate case, the Court will decide the president's power to remove the leader of the independent Federal Reserve, a question that cuts to the heart of how much control any chief executive can exercise over economic policy and the central bank's independence.
The Court enters this decision period visibly fractured. The nine justices have shown sharp disagreements throughout the term on how to interpret presidential powers, the scope of constitutional guarantees, and the balance between executive action and institutional independence.
These final rulings will arrive as Trump enters his second term and pushes an aggressive policy agenda. The outcomes could either expand or constrain how far a president can go in pursuing major changes without congressional approval.
The decisions also come at a moment when the Court itself faces questions about its public standing and the coherence of its ideological direction. The divisions playing out in oral arguments and internal deliberations suggest the justices see these cases very differently.
Observers expect rulings by the end of June, when the Court typically clears its docket before summer recess.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "These aren't edge cases anymore, they're the definition of where modern executive power gets tested, and the Court's fractured state suggests no consensus on how far it should go."
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