“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that ‘all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.’ To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition.” –Thomas Jefferson, Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank, 1791
The Framers were intentional in the formation of our government. They were students of history and cognizant of how centralized governments grew to violate their citizen’s liberty.
In Jefferson’s quote above, he makes it clear if the federal government were to act outside the bounds of the 10th Amendment once, the precedent would be set to violate it regularly. There is no argument that Jefferson was correct.
James Madison discusses the principles of federalism in Federalist 45. He echoes the point made in the Declaration of Independence: that the role of the federal government is to secure the blessings of liberty and provide for the safety of its citizens from external threats. Madison argues this was the purpose of the American Revolution. If not, what was the point of sacrificing the many lives, resources and effort in going to war with the British?
Also discussed is the relationship between the federal, state and local government. Madison supposes the size of state and local governments would exceed that of the federal government. That may still be technically true with the number of state and local government employees around 20 million and federal employees a little north of two million. When looking at the influence of federal rules and regulations on state and local governments, the proportionality diminishes.
The 10th Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
This is a statement of the principle of federalism. It is interesting that the Framers did not include an enforcement mechanism or tool to endure the federal government did not violate this instruction. Why is that?
Well, they had included two methods of enforcement in the text of the Constitution. The first was that senators would be selected by their state’s legislatures. Senators were to be the voice of the states in the federal government. This representation was eliminated with the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913.
The Article V convention of states process was the second protection states have to prevent the tyranny of the federal government. It is a more robust defense of the states authority, because it requires the cooperation of at least two-thirds of the states to trigger an Article V meeting.
This is a tremendous flexing of political muscle by the states. It will send an unmistakable signal to the federal government that the states are focused on reclaiming their constitutional authority.
There is activity happening across the country. Just in the last two weeks, we have had hearings or floor votes in Montana, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota. Our resolution is on the calendar in 18 states currently.
The Missouri legislature is considering the Convention of States Action resolution and our Commissioner Selection Bill. They need to reaffirm our resolution that was passed in 2017 due to the five-year sunset clause it included.
We will have committee votes in the House and the Senate this week. Stay tuned and contact your legislators to voice your support. Click here for more information and ways to get involved.
In liberty,
Brett
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