By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration was on the defensive for much of the arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court over his sweeping tariffs. A major reason for that, according to legal experts, was the surprisingly harsh questioning by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative who sometimes defies expectations.

In one notable exchange on Wednesday, Gorsuch said he was concerned by the administration’s assertion that the tariffs are permissible because of the president’s broad authority in dealing with foreign countries.

If that were true, Gorsuch said, “what would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce – for that matter, declare war – to the president?”

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