What Is Federalism?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the principle of federalism. Federalism is a principle in the United States system of government where two or more levels of government make laws for the same territory. The federal government makes laws for the entire United States, states make laws for their individual state, and cities make laws for local issues.

The Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell Law School published an article at this site stating that "the Constitution has established a system of ‘dual sovereignty’.” Under this system, certain powers were given to the federal government, while all other powers were reserved for the states or the people. States have surrendered some of their powers but retained others. In their article, the LII offered the following explanation. 

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution contains the Supremacy Clause, which reds, “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” This effectively means that when the laws of the federal government are in conflict with the laws of a state’s government, the federal law will supersede the state law.

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution describes specific powers which belong to the federal government. These powers are referred to as enumerated powers.

The Tenth Amendment reserves powers to the states, as long as those powers are not delegated to the federal government. Among other powers, this includes creating school systems, overseeing state courts, creating public safety systems, managing business and trade within the state, and managing local government. These powers are referred to as reserved powers.

Concurrent powers refer to powers which are shared by both the federal government and state governments. This includes the power to tax, build roads, and create lower courts.

            Two of the powers given to the federal government are determining who is allowed to enter into the United States and protecting the states against invasion. Under the Biden administration, the federal government are failing to fulfill the two responsibilities listed. As they have done in other situations, states are standing up to the federal government about its plan to end Title 42.

The Biden administration is planning to roll back Title 42 in about five weeks. According to Samuel Mangold-Lenett, there are eighteen Republican attorneys general (AGs) who are “locking arms in a display of unified opposition” to the administration’s plan. They have joined in suing the federal government to force Biden to keep Title 42 in place. 

            Mangold-Lenett stated that the lawsuit to stop Title 42 was originally by the AGs of Arizona, Louisiana, and Missouri. Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming have now joined the lawsuit. This is one example of federalism. The attorneys general are doing all they can to protect the residents of their states from the impact of millions of illegal immigrants bringing diseases into America.