Some Democrats Are Trying to Preemptively Outlaw a Billionaire Tax

Sensing its popularity, Obama’s former Supreme Court lawyer and a Louisiana Democrat are using an obscure corporate taxation case to try to make a federal wealth tax illegal before it even exists.

Key Speakers At The Bitcoin Conference

Neal Katyal, formerly the Obama administration’s Supreme Court lawyer, seeks to outlaw all federal wealth taxes. (Eva Marie Uzcategui / Bloomberg via Getty Images)


The former Supreme Court lawyer for the Barack Obama administration and a Democratic senator-turned-lobbyist are pressuring justices to block Congress from ever instituting a wealth tax on the superrich, according to court filings reviewed by the Lever.

Former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal recently submitted an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case Moore v. United States on behalf of the group Saving America’s Family Enterprises (SAFE). That anonymously funded group — whose board includes corporate lobbyists — has spearheaded campaigns against Democrats’ efforts to tax the inheritances and wealth of millionaires and billionaires.

Now the group is aiming to use the obscure corporate taxation case to elicit a broad ruling that outlaws all wealth taxes.

This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.