Everything seems to keep coming back to : "Ps Illegality claim looks like a guaranteed loss, because the NWS was legislatively authorized (per SCOTUS)."
The NWS being legal does not mean nothing illegal happened. The SCOTUS found that FHFA was within it's authority to make such an agreement. It is true that there is nothing illegal about the NWS itself. Just like there would be nothing illegal about a company giving some or all of its profits to charity. However, the implementation of an otherwise legal act can result in an ILLEGAL breach of contract.
Here's another anecdote:
I hire Hunter Biden as my spokesperson for DaJester's Mystery Oil. He will get 10% of all the profits I get for selling my Mystery Oil, and we put that in the contract. Hunter makes commercials for me. I later decide to sign a contract with the Ukraine to provide all my Mystery Oil to the Ukraine for free, as a charity contribution. Hunter would get no royalties or profit sharing since the price was set to zero. Hunter sues me for breach of implied contract. While not explicitly stated in the contract, the assumption is that the product would be sold for a profit, so that he may gain benefits of a percentage of those profits. Hunter wins. I have to pay him $600M in damages for the money he otherwise may have collected from the oil being sent to the Ukraine. Sometimes the remedy for a breach of contract includes a contract remedy, but in this case, the jury simply awards monetary damages.
So my contract with Hunter remains intact. I keep manufacturing Mystery Oil. Starting in 2024, I decide to ship my oil to Israel. If I try to use the same contract terms and ship it all for free (which is perfectly legal for me to do), what happens with my Hunter contract? Am I allowed to continue the obvious (and now jury certified) breach of implied contract? Since I already paid the damages, I should be good according to your stance?
Maybe to avoid the obvious re-breach, instead I decide to write a new contract and get a new spokesperson. This time I get Donald Trump to be my spokesperson, he makes some huugely successful commercials for me. Can I use the same language in the new contract to pay him 10% of the profits? Yes. Can I sign a contract with Israel to provide all the oil for free? Technically yes. Would that still be a breach of implied contract? Yes! Would it be easier for Trump to win this in court? Absolutely.
So the fact that there is no direct remedy requiring FHFA to cancel the contract with Treasury doesn't not mean there isn't some serious maneuvering needed to avoid another obvious contract breach and pay more damages.
