President Donald Trump’s two Supreme Court appointees are on opposite sides of two of three cases that the justices decided Tuesday.
Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the court’s liberal justices in ruling that a Washington state Indian tribe doesn’t have to pay a state fuel tax. Gorsuch says an 1855 treaty makes a “handful of modest promises” to the Yakama Nation, including the right to move goods to market freely.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh dissented, arguing that the treaty merely gives tribal members the same right to travel as everyone else.
The other case involves a lawsuit by survivors of two Navy veterans over their exposure to asbestos. Kavanaugh wrote the court’s opinion that allows the suit to continue, and Gorsuch dissented.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.