Who is Neal Katyal? Indian-American lawyer at center of Trump's biggest legal setback

Neal Katyal, the son of Indian immigrants, emerged as a central figure in the landmark US Supreme Court case that struck down President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs on Friday.

Representing a group of small businesses, Katyal hailed the decision as “a complete and total victory” and said, “It’s a reaffirmation of our deepest constitutional values and the idea that Congress, not any one man, controls the power to tax the American people.”




On X, he added, "Today, the US 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 Court gave us everything we asked for in our legal case. Everything."




The 6-3 ruling focused on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs that Trump had levied on nearly every other country. The decision marks a major setback for Trump on an issue central to his economic agenda and was seen as a decisive reaffirmation of constitutional limits on executive power.

About Neal Katyal

Katyal, 55, is a former Acting US Solicitor General and one of the US' leading Supreme Court litigators.

He has argued dozens of cases before the Court, including Moore v. Harper in 2023, where he successfully challenged the “independent state legislature” theory, which would have given state legislatures unchecked authority over federal elections.

During the Obama administration, Katyal successfully argued for the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, served as Special Prosecutor in the George Floyd murder case, and early in his career represented vice president Al Gore as co-counsel in Bush v Gore in 2000-2001.

Born in Chicago to a physician mother, Pratibha, and an engineer father, Surendar, both from India, Katyal graduated from Dartmouth College and later Yale Law School, where he was a protégé of renowned constitutional scholar Akhil Amar. His sister, Sonia Katyal, is also a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

The family’s presence in high-profile legal circles reflects the growing influence of Indian-Americans in the US legal system, where several judges and justices of Indian origin have presided over major cases.

Katyal currently serves as the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center and is a partner at global law firm Milbank LLP.

His academic and litigation work focuses on executive power, national security law, and the structural safeguards embedded in the Constitution.