Published July 13, 2026 at 11:40 AM ET · Updated July 14, 2026 at 10:10 AM ET
Iran launches new tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz
4 independent outlets are covering this story. Verification: Confirmed — reported independently by wire/mainstream and conservative outlets. Patriot Watch links to original reporting; we don't republish it.
Iran has attacked additional tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing at least one sailor. President Trump declared the United States the guardian of Hormuz and announced a plan to charge a 20 percent fee on shipping through the strait.
Patriot Watch first flagged this story 23 hr ago, when The American Conservative reported it. Coverage has since grown to 4 independent outlets, including 1 wire/mainstream feed. The most recent report came 2 hr ago from ZeroHedge. Verification tier: Confirmed — reported independently by wire/mainstream and conservative outlets.
⚖ The Constitutional Angle
Under Learning Resources v. V.O.S. Selections, IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs and the duty power belongs to Congress. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer adds that presidential power must come from Congress or the Constitution and emergency alone creates none. A unilateral twenty percent shipping fee would face the same barrier absent a congressional delegation.
Learning Resources v. V.O.S. Selections 607 U.S. 229 (2026)
Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Roberts (C.J.)
THE ANSWER TO THE LITIGATED QUESTION: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. The Constitution vests the power to lay taxes and duties in Congress; the Executive has no inherent authority to impose peacetime tariffs (a point the government conceded), so any presidential tariff power must come from a congressional delegation. IEEPA's grant of authority to 'regulate ...
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (The Steel Seizure Case) — CROSS-REFERENCE ENTRY 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Black
SHORT FORM (full apparatus lives in the presidential-immunity entry): President Truman's Korean War seizure of the steel mills was unlawful — the President's power 'must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself,' and neither source supplied it, particularly where Congress had considered and withheld seizure authority. Youngstown supplies the Jackson framework through which Dames & Moore, Zivotofsky, and the 2026 IEEPA tariff decision were all argued: emergency does not create power; it marks the occasion for exercising powers that must already exist.
Precedent facts from the PW Law Library — primary-source verified & independently audited
