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The U.S. Supreme Court is still weighing its decision in President Donald Trump’s tariffs case nearly three months after it held unusually rapid arguments—an interval that has stretched expectations for an equally fast resolution. The court is not scheduled to meet in public for more than three weeks, according to an Associated Press report published Thursday.
Trump’s lawyers had urged speed when the court granted a quick hearing, arguing that the issue was central to the Republican president’s economic agenda. They pointed to a statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning that “longer a final ruling is delayed, the greater the risk of economic disruption.”
As that wait continues, Supreme Court observers said the timing alone does not reliably indicate what the justices ultimately will decide. The AP report noted that several justices had expressed skepticism about the tariffs’ legality during arguments in November, but no one outside the court’s deliberations knows for sure what the nine justices are considering behind the scenes.
Jonathan Adler, a law professor at the College of William & Mary, said he was “not aware of instances in which we have more than speculation” about the court dragging its feet on a ruling. He suggested that talk of delay as a strategy is speculative rather than grounded in identifiable patterns.
Carter Phillips, a lawyer with 91 arguments before the high court, said one possible explanation for the slower timetable is that the justices may be more evenly divided than they appeared during oral argument. He also said the fifth vote could be “wavering,” and that even if a majority opinion has been drafted and agreed to, a separate opinion—likely a dissent—could slow the issuance.
The report also pointed to how separate opinions can change the pace even when outcomes ultimately align. It cited the court’s release of two unanimous sets of results in cases argued in October, where all nine justices agreed on the outcome, while separate opinions in each case likely delayed those decisions.
Beyond the specific tariffs dispute, the AP report said the Supreme Court has been moving more slowly in argued cases, potentially because of a flood of emergency appeals that the Trump administration has brought to the justices. It said the first argued case cited in the article was not decided until January, a timing that typically happens in December or November.
Law professors and practitioners said decision timing varies widely depending on what constraints the court faces. The AP report noted that some cases can be resolved quickly when hard external deadlines apply, citing the landmark Bush v. Gore decision as taking just over a day, while other cases can take longer when the justices are working against their own schedules; it cited a 2018 case, Gundy v. U.S., as taking more than eight months.
The tariffs case has taken on added urgency because the consequences of the administration’s tariff policy have been unfolding in real time, with effects that observers described as both positive and negative. Marc Busch, an expert on international trade policy and law at Georgetown University, said he had hoped the Supreme Court would “rush the decision out,” but he said the timeline is not surprising because the justices have until June and “lots of issues” to work through.
Busch also emphasized that the separation-of-powers questions at the center of the case are complicated and that whatever the majority decides, a dissent is likely. “It is the language at the end of the day that’s going to make this more or less meaningful,” Busch said.
While the justices deliberate, the AP report said Trump continues to invoke tariff threats, praising them and describing the case as the court’s most important. Busch referenced the tariff threats over Greenland in saying the justices were likely aware “the gravity of this moment,” as the court considers what to do with the legal dispute before it.