Trump v. Slaughter · ¶47

But Chief Justice Taft emphasized that it was not just the First Congress that had come to this conclusion. The First Congress supplied “a precedent upon which many future laws . . . would be based”—and if it had erred, the next Congresses would have “dissent[ed] and depart[ed]” from its view. Id., at 136. Quite the opposite occurred, the Chief Justice explained. The Decision of 1789 “was soon accepted as a final decision of the question by all branches of the Government.” Ibid. For “74 years, there was no act of Congress, no executive act, and no decision of this Court at variance with the declaration of the First Congress.” Id., at 163.

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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