Gorsuch asks Sauer if Native Americans are birthright citizens

Justice Neil Gorsuch pressed Solicitor General D. John Sauer on Wednesday to clarify whether Native Americans qualify as birthright citizens during Supreme Court oral arguments challenging President Trump's 2025 executive order to end birthright citizenship. Sauer appeared uncertain in his response, suggesting tension within the administration's legal position on the scope of citizenship rights. The question cuts to the heart of the case: whether the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship "to all persons born or naturalized in the United States" applies universally or can be narrowed by executive action. Gorsuch's skepticism from the bench—he is himself of Native American descent—signals potential fractures on the Court over how broadly to interpret birthright citizenship. The case will likely determine whether millions of children born to non-citizen parents in the U.S. retain automatic citizenship rights.