Washington: Indian-American attorney Neal Katyal has emerged as a central figure in a major constitutional ruling by the United States Supreme Court, overturning former President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff programme. The case was brought by small businesses and supported by Liberty Justice Centre, reported NDTV World.
Katyal, the son of Indian immigrants, argued against Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose what he described as “unjust, unconstitutional taxes” on imports from nearly every US trading partner.
In the aftermath of the decision, the Supreme Court’s majority underscored that only the US Congress — not the President — has the constitutional authority to levy taxes, including tariffs on goods entering the country.
A Leading Constitutional Advocate
Neal Katyal formerly served as the Acting Solicitor General of the United States and is widely recognised as one of the nation’s most experienced Supreme Court litigators. Born in Chicago to Indian immigrant parents — his mother a doctor and his father an engineer — Katyal, according to reports, had attended Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, and later clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.
Appointed Acting Solicitor General by President Barack Obama in 2010, Katyal represented the federal government before the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals nationwide, the NDTV report states.
During his career, Katyal has reportedly argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court, breaking records for minority advocates, and has been involved in key constitutional battles, including defending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and challenging Trump’s 2017 travel ban.
Currently a partner at Milbank LLP and the Paul Saunders Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, he has also served as Special Prosecutor for the State of Minnesota in the prosecution related to George Floyd’s murder.
Moments after the court’s decision, Katyal said: “Today, the United States Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law, and Americans everywhere. Its message was simple: Presidents are powerful, but our Constitution is more powerful still. In America, only Congress can impose taxes on the American people.”
He described the case as fundamentally about the separation of powers rather than the politics of any one administration, and called the Supreme Court “the bedrock of our government for 250 years.”
Katyal’s legal achievements have been widely recognised. He has received the US Justice Department’s Edmund Randolph Award, and was named Litigator of the Year by The American Lawyer in both 2017 and 2023. Forbes listed him among the top 200 lawyers in the United States in 2024 and 2025.
