Who is Neal Katyal? Indian-origin lawyer who helped strike down Trump’s global tariffs

The US Supreme Court Friday struck down Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, ruling that the President exceeded his authority when he imposed duties using a law reserved for national emergencies. “The idea that we have a system that self-corrects, that allows us to say ‘You might be the most powerful man in the world but you still can’t break the Constitution.’ That to me is what today is about,” said Neal Katyal, the Indian-origin lawyer who was at the centre case, arguing about the illegality of the levies on behalf of small businesses. “One of the great things about the American system is what just happened today. I was able to go to court – the son of immigrants – able to go to court and say on behalf of American small businesses, ‘Hey, this President is acting illegally,'” he said in an interview with MS Now. The conservative-majority bench effectively restored the US Congress’s primacy in trade policy, reminding the separation of powers – between the legislature, executive, and judiciary – in decision-making. “I was able to present my case, have them ask really hard questions at me, it was a really intense oral argument and at the end of it, they voted and we won,” said Keytal. “Victory,” Katyal wrote on X after the verdict. > Victory. — Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) February 20, 2026 — Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) February 20, 2026 In a post on X in November, Katyal posted a photograph of a traditional ‘Kada’ (bangle) placed on a ‘Brief for Private Respondents’ related to the Supreme Court tariff case against Trump. ## Who is Neal Katyal? • Neal Katyal is a partner in the Washington DC office of Milbank LLP and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Group. He has argued 54 cases before the US Supreme Court. He focuses on appellate and complex litigation. • He was born in 1970 in Chicago to a paediatrician mother and an engineer father, both of whom immigrated from India. He graduated from Yale Law School. • Katyal clerked for Guido Calabresi of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as well as for Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the US Supreme Court. • He has also served as a law professor at Georgetown University Law Centre for over two decades. According to his profile on the Milbank website, “he was one of the youngest professors to have received tenure and a chaired professorship in the university’s history.” • He has also served as a visiting professor at Harvard and Yale law schools. • He also served in the Deputy Attorney General’s Office at the Justice Department as National Security Advisor and as Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General during 1998-1999. • The Chief Justice of the United States appointed him in 2011 and 2014 to the Advisory Committee on Federal Appellate Rules. ## ‘Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law’ Reacting to the ruling, Neal Katyal said the Supreme Court of the United States had delivered a clear message on constitutional limits. “Today, the US Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law and Americans everywhere,” Katyal wrote on X. “Its message was simple: Presidents are powerful, but our Constitution is more powerful still. In America, only Congress can impose taxes on the American people.” > My statement: “Today, the U.S. Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law and Americans everywhere. Its message was simple: Presidents are powerful, but our Constitution is more powerful still. In America, only Congress can impose taxes on the American people. The US Supreme… — Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) February 20, 2026 My statement: “Today, the U.S. Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law and Americans everywhere. Its message was simple: Presidents are powerful, but our Constitution is more powerful still. In America, only Congress can impose taxes on the American people. The US Supreme… — Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) February 20, 2026 He added that the court had granted everything sought in the legal challenge. “The US Supreme Court gave us everything we asked for in our legal case. Everything.” ### ‘Everything we asked for’ in legal challenge Katyal thanked the Liberty Justice Center and its chair Sara Albrecht for leading the case. He said she had “led the fight when others wouldn’t” and defended the constitutional order. He also expressed gratitude to five small business owners who joined the case, saying their stand had brought “crucial relief to tens of thousands of businesses and millions of consumers across the country”. Katyal thanked his legal colleagues at Milbank LLP, including Colleen Roh Sinzdak and Sami Ilagan, who he said worked “day and night for many months to craft the winning argument”. In his post, he stressed that the case was about constitutional principles rather than politics. “This case has always been about the presidency, not any one president. It has always been about separation of powers, and not the politics of the moment,” he wrote. Katyal added that he was pleased to see the Supreme Court, which he described as the bedrock of government for 250 years, protect fundamental values. The Express Global Desk at The Indian Express delivers authoritative, verified, and context-driven coverage of key international developments shaping global politics, policy, and migration trends. The desk focuses on stories with direct relevance for Indian and global audiences, combining breaking news with in-depth explainers and analysis. A major focus area of the desk is US immigration and visa policy, including developments related to student visas, work permits, permanent residency pathways, executive actions, and court rulings. The Global Desk also closely tracks Canada’s immigration, visa, and study policies, covering changes to study permits, post-study work options, permanent residence programmes, and regulatory updates affecting migrants and international students. 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