Current Affairs Of Pakistan & World: SCOTUS sours on Sauer’s birthright argument

SCOTUS sours on Sauer’s birthright argument

Apr 01, 2026

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THE CATCH-UP

Demonstrators rally outside the Supreme Court after justices hear oral arguments on whether President Donald Trump can deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily.

President Donald Trump wants to reimagine one of the country’s bedrock legal principles: that almost anyone born within the United States, regardless of parental citizenship or status, is born an American.

The Supreme Court appears loath to let that happen.

Trump made history this morning when he motorcaded to the high court himself to watch from the front row as his government’s top litigator argued that the country has, for 157 years, been wrong about birthright citizenship. He quietly exited after an attorney for the ACLU took to the lectern to posit that the president’s executive order denying citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants and foreigners on temporary visas violates the Constitution, reports POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein, who observed the scene inside the courtroom.

Over the course of about an hour and 10 minutes, the justices grilled Solicitor General D. John Sauer over his interpretations of the law as he sought to convince them that the 14th Amendment — which begins “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” — should not apply to the children of undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders.

The Trump administration’s legal argument hinges on language in the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, in which the high court ruled that Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to parents who were Chinese nationals, was indeed a U.S. citizen. That precedent, for more than a century, has been taken to mean that U.S. citizenship is determined by place of birth, not parentage.

But Sauer argued that it’s more complicated than that, because Wong Kim Ark’s parents were lawful permanent residents who, as the decision put it, had “a permanent domicil and residence in the United States.”

“It did not grant citizenship to the children of temporary visitors or illegal aliens who have no such allegiance,” Sauer said at the beginning of his argument.

The justices didn’t seem to buy it. “The examples you give to support that strike me as very quirky,” said Chief Justice John Roberts. Justice Neil Gorsuch — a Trump appointee — likened Sauer’s sources to “Roman law.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett — another Trump appointee — said reinterpreting the law to such an extent could be “messy in some applications.”

In one stunning moment, Gorsuch asked Sauer if, under his “domicile test,” he thinks “Native Americans today are birthright citizens.”

“I think so, on our test, if they’re lawfully domiciled here,” Sauer responded, audibly thrown off. “I have to think that through.”

Some justices also pressed ACLU Legal Director Cecillia Wang — herself a birthright citizen — who argued against Trump’s executive order. “Why put domicil in there? It’s something irrelevant that he wanted to throw in?” asked Justice Samuel Alito. He continued: “I know you’ve got a lot of good stuff on your side too, but what do we do with the fact that many sound legal authorities thought it remained an open question?”

After the arguments ended, Trump took to Truth Social to announce “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow “Birthright” Citizenship!”

It was a relatively muted reaction, considering the president’s recent history with the Court. In response to a February 6-3 decision that saw Roberts, Gorsuch and Barrett join the court’s three liberal justices to slap down Trump’s tariff authority, Trump called his own nominees “an embarrassment to their families.”

Good Wednesday afternoon. This is Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray. Gas just hit $2 a gallon and the DHS shutdown is over! April fools. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line at isentner@politico.com and mgray@politico.com.

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8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. IRAN LATEST: All eyes will be on Trump tonight at 9 p.m., when he’s set to address the nation amid the ongoing war with Iran. In what could be a potential preview of those remarks, the president told Reuters’ Steve Holland in a phone call this morning that “we're going to be out pretty quickly.” He also claimed that the five-week conflict has already resulted in “full regime change” due to “the casualties of war.” Although U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed several of Iran’s top leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran says the country is currently being run by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, under the same regime.

Trump this morning also said on Truth Social there will be no ceasefire until the Strait of Hormuz is open. He claimed that “Iran’s New Regime President” — whom he framed as “much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors” — had requested a ceasefire. Despite most U.S. allies’ spurning of Trump’s demands to secure the strait, the United Arab Emirates is preparing to help open it by force, WSJ’s Summer Said and colleagues report. The gulf nation is lobbying for a U.N. Security Council to authorize such an action, Arab officials said.

The president’s messaging setting up an off-ramp with Iran comes as the White House and its allies acknowledge the potential for major political blowback from the war, as domestic gas prices this week reached an average $4 a gallon. A CNN poll out this morning has Trump’s approval rating for his handling of the economy at 31 percent — a career low for the president. But even as it appears Trump is preparing to pull out (driving an optimistic market bump), thousands of U.S. troops have arrived in the Middle East and are standing by for two potential ground attacks, The Atlantic’s Nancy Youssef and Jonathan Lemire report.

Big mad: Trump is considering pulling out of NATO after the conflict in Iran ends, the president told The Telegraph’s Connor Stringer in another phone interview. He said U.S. membership in the alliance is “beyond reconsideration,” calling it a “paper tiger” — one of his oft-repeated attacks against NATO. Trump has long been a critic of the alliance and threatened to blow it up earlier this year, but has been particularly irked by its refusal to help the U.S. in the Middle East.

2. TWO-MONTH TIMELINE: “Trump demands Republican-only DHS bill by June 1,” by POLITICO’s Myah Ward and Jordain Carney: “The president’s post essentially endorses the approach favored by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, but Trump did not say Wednesday whether he supports immediate House passage of the Senate-approved bill to fund the rest of DHS — or whether he wants to hold off until reconciliation is complete. He also didn’t specify whether he wants the reconciliation bill to be confined solely to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol funding.”

3. TRAIL MIX: Alexander Vindman, who became a known name as a former National Security Council aide and key player in Trump’s first impeachment, has raised $8.2 million since launching his Democratic campaign for Senate in Florida, POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard reports. “The first-quarter results raised by the new Democratic candidate outpace the 2025 fundraising from the Republican in the race, Trump-endorsed Sen. Ashley Moody.”

The age-old question: Justin Pearson, a 31-year-old Black state lawmaker in Tennessee, and his former boss, 76-year-old Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), are facing off in a contentious August primary election, offering another test of Democrats’ generational divide, NYT’s Emily Cochrane writes.

4. IRS STRESS: The Justice Department is weighing how to respond to Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, NYT’s Andrew Duehren and Alan Feuer write. “While former Justice Department officials see clear flaws in the president’s case, some Trump administration officials worry that assigning a lawyer to contest it would pose an unworkable conflict, given that such a person ultimately works for the president, according to the two people. Defending the case could also contradict a White House executive order that binds all government lawyers to the president’s interpretation of the law.”

Inside the agency: “IRS CEO defiant as Washington asks who’s running things,” by POLITICO’s Danny Nguyen: “In an interview with POLITICO, Frank Bisignano says he’s focused on improving the tax agency’s tech capabilities and not on questions about his role at the IRS.”

5. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Border Patrol chief Michael Banks hit with prostitution allegations by agents,” by the Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli: “[Michael] Banks ‘bragged’ to colleagues while in his previous management role at Border Patrol about paying for sex with prostitutes while traveling in Colombia and Thailand over the course of a decade. Banks’ behavior was said to have been investigated by Customs and Border Protection officials twice, including last year, but the investigation ended abruptly while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in office, leading to more questions.” The Washington Examiner spoke to six current and former Border Patrol employees and Banks did not respond to a request for comment.

On the front lines: “A slowdown in US visa processing is wreaking havoc on foreign doctors’ lives,” by POLITICO’s Simon Levien: “The Trump administration is slow-walking visa renewals for foreign doctors in the United States from the 39 countries from which the president has banned visitors. Trump says people from the countries are national security threats, but the visa pause is forcing physicians who’ve lived in the U.S. for years to stop working and exacerbating staffing shortages that are a longstanding headache for hospital administrators, more than a dozen foreign doctors told POLITICO.”

6. WANTING GREENLAND, AGAIN: The Pentagon is pushing further into Greenland, seeking access to three bases from Denmark, marking the latest escalation of Trump’s interest in the island, NYT’s Jeffrey Gettleman and colleagues report. If successful, it would be the first U.S. expansion there in three decades. “The Danish government has cited a 1951 Danish-American defense pact to push back against Mr. Trump’s threats, noting that the U.S. already has sweeping military access. American officials are now using that same agreement to map out plans for their expansion.”

7. CALIFORNIA DREADIN’: “Democrats risk a historic upset in California,” by POLITICO’s Jeremy White: “With a sprawling field threatening to split the vote and hand the governorship to a Republican, a late-hour effort failed to persuade longshot contenders to drop out. A preeminent labor group split its coveted endorsement four ways, elevating no one. And in the most recent upheaval, a televised debate was hastily canceled after an uproar from within the party that leaving out low-polling candidates of color would produce an all-white stage.”

8. BRAVE NEW WORLD: “Key nonprofit pitches tech giants to pay $100M each for AI safety effort,” by POLITICO’s Christine Mui and Brendan Bordelon: “Influential kids’ advocacy group Common Sense Media is soliciting tens of millions of dollars from top artificial intelligence companies to launch a new institute that would assess the risks AI technologies pose to children, according to multiple people familiar with the effort and documents detailing the group’s plans. As part of that effort, which has not previously been reported, Common Sense has offered companies the ability to review and provide input on how AI models will be evaluated.”

A message from Anthropic:

AI helps most with the hardest work, not the simplest. Anthropic analyzed 2M conversations and found Claude's biggest impact is on complex, college-level tasks. See the data

TALK OF THE TOWN

SCOAK SUPREMACY — “Butterworth’s Is for Bosses. MAGA’s Next Generation Is Hanging Out at Scarlet Oak,” by NOTUS’ Emily Kennard: “[L]ike clockwork on Wine Wednesdays, young political staffers, especially Republicans, arrive in droves to get in on the discounted wine. Their youthful, gregarious presence transforms an otherwise sterile establishment, the Chainsmokers of restaurants, into something resembling a weekend college party.” You’re welcome: Irie and POLITICO’s Ben Johansen had the early tip on Scoak’s Wine Wednesday last February

TMZ STRIKES AGAIN — Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) was spotted keeping score at his son’s basketball game last night by TMZ, adding to the tabloid’s recent streak of congressional coverage — which has Hill staffers buzzing, POLITICO’s Riley Rogerson reports.

A STREETCAR NAMED RETIRE — “As the DC Streetcar shuts down, leaders wrestle with H Street’s transit future,” by WAMU’s Alex Koma and Tyrone Turner: “One of the main options they’re considering is the creation of a bus priority lane along H Street in order to speed up bus service. DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum says that will require removing the old streetcar tracks, but she sees it as a real possibility for the area. She believes the city may even be able to repurpose some of the existing streetcar stops, and so there’s no plan to remove much of the infrastructure related to the streetcar for the immediate future.”

TRANSITIONS — Michael Mancusi has joined Barnes & Thornburg in the Financial Innovation and Regulation practice as a partner. He most recently worked at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. … Drew Weinstock is now tax legislative assistant for Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.). He previously worked for Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.). … Claudia Hernandez is now director of public relations at the American Clean Power Association. She most recently worked at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

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