3.4.1 – The Nature and Role of the Supreme Court
On 1 April 2026, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Trump v. Barbara, one of the most important constitutional cases in years. At issue is President Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day back in office, which would end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented parents or those on temporary visas. Every federal court that had previously considered a challenge to the order had blocked it, and the administration’s repeated appeals eventually forced the Supreme Court to take up the question directly, accepting the case in December 2025.
The route from executive order to Supreme Court is worth understanding, because it shows how major constitutional disputes actually work. Within hours of Trump signing the order, civil rights organisations filed legal challenges in federal district courts. The ACLU, alongside several partner organisations, brought a class action on behalf of children who would be denied citizenship, with the lead plaintiff known only as Barbara, a Honduran citizen who concealed her identity out of fear for her safety. Sixty amicus curiae briefs were filed in total, meaning outside parties submitted written arguments to help inform the court’s thinking. Historians, legal scholars, and civil rights groups lined up against the order; Republican state attorneys general and conservative organisations filed in support.
Inside the courtroom, the justices were deeply sceptical of the government’s case. Chief Justice John Roberts dismissed the argument that changed circumstances justified a new reading of the amendment, pointing out simply that it was the same Constitution. Justice Neil Gorsuch, himself a Trump appointee, pressed the government’s lawyer on whether the administration’s legal theory would even have made sense in the nineteenth century. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned whether implementing the order was practically workable at all.
We do not yet know how the court will rule, with a decision expected by July 2026. What this case illustrates, however, is the Supreme Court doing exactly what it exists to do: acting as the final check on whether government action is constitutional. The early signs are not encouraging for the administration. The court’s hostile questioning follows its recent decision to strike down Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs in the Learning Resources case, suggesting a court increasingly willing to push back against executive overreach.