Supreme Court

Clarence Thomas Doubled Down on Presidential Power

The conservative justice pushed for greater executive authority even in cases in which Trump won.

Damon Root | 7.9.2026 7:00 AM

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(Illustration: Adani Samat. Photo: Chip Somodevilla - Pool via CNP/picture alliance / Consolidated News Photos/Newscom/Envato)

What are the limits of executive power, and how should such limits be enforced by the courts?

If there was a single dominant theme in the U.S. Supreme Court's recently concluded 2025–2026 term, then those two questions capture it in a nutshell. This was a SCOTUS term uniquely focused on the debate over the proper scope of presidential authority.

That makes sense, given the current occupant of the White House. In his second term, President Donald Trump has pursued an agenda of maximalist executive power on every front. Trump was not the first president to bypass Congress and seek to govern via executive fiat alone, of course. But the brazenness of Trump's executive overreach still stands out.

Trump did ultimately lose some of these cases when they finally reached the Court. But he was not without certain dependable allies on the bench. Indeed, one justice in particular made it........

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