An Intellectual Crisis in American Federalism: The Meaning of <italic>Garcia</italic>

Abstract

In National League of Cities v. Usery (1976), the U.S. Supreme Court found that the Tenth Amendment requires the existence of a set of essential state powers that remains beyond the reach of congressional regulation or preemption. The Court reversed itself in Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985), holding that the Tenth Amendment provides the Court no basis on which to limit the Congress in the exercise of its commerce powers. We argue that, although contradictory, both holdings can be inferred validly from the U.S. Constitution. This absurd result reveals profound inconsistencies in the constitutional design of federalism, requiring a constitutional solution. The article concludes with a discussion of a variety of constitutional remedies, including constitutional amendments.