Birthright citizenship dispute at the Supreme Court has broad implications for Trump's agenda

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court could give a major boost to the Trump administration's muscular use of executive power when it hears arguments Thursday over his plan to end birthright citizenship.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court could give a major boost to the Trump administration's muscular use of executive power when it hears arguments Thursday over his plan to end birthright citizenship.

The court is not actually using a trio of cases before it to give the final word on whether Trump can radically reinterpret the long-understood meaning of the Constitution's 14th Amendment. Instead, it will focus on the power of judges to block presidential policies across the country.

Trump's plan to limit birthright citizenship to people born to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident is likely to ultimately be struck down, most legal experts say. The 14th Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

But for now, the Supreme Court — which has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three Trump appointees — is focusing only on the question of whether lower-court judges had the authority to block the policy nationwide, as three did in different cases.

The administration and its allies have for months raged at judges for issuing "universal injunctions" that have stymied Trump's aggressive use of executive power. Republicans in Congress quickly introduced legislation on the issue, which was approved by the House of Representatives last month. It has not come up for a vote in the Senate.