courts / SCOTUS let the government roll out a massive and obviously illegal tax on citizens for a long time.

The don't forget about congress. 216 GOP congressional reps voted to handicap congress's ability to halt tariffs. For much of the current session of congress, their calendar wasn't counting days.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/house-republicans-block-con...

This is a tactic I'm seeing more in politics. When it's in the interests of a group for something to pass, but they don't want the blame, they can abstain or defer. It still goes through and if it goes wrong they can argue it's not their fault. Win/win for them.