Republican governors are increasingly defying the federal government and the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a leftist media report.
“It’s Republican governors vs. the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal government,” said NBC’s Meet the Press, hosted by leftist Chuck Todd, which reported on recent developments in Alabama and Texas.
The outlet noted an ongoing battle over redistricting in Alabama. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional maps in Allen v. Milligan, ruling that they violated the federal Voting Rights Act by having only one black-majority district instead of two.
The Court’s 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by Brett Kavanaugh and the three leftist justices (Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson), expands federal control at the expense of state sovereignty. In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas argued the decision was unconstitutional and “yet another installment in the ‘disastrous misadventure’ of this Court’s voting rights jurisprudence.”
In late July, the Alabama Legislature enacted a new set of maps. Much to the anger of leftists — who are upset that the Democratic Party controls only one seat in the state — the maps did not create a second black-majority seat.
The second development cited by Meet the Press was Texas’ placement of floating border barriers in the Rio Grande river. Texas had already stepped up border operations in the face of federal open-borders policies, and according to Governor Greg Abbott, the floating barriers “will allow us … to prevent people from even getting to the border.”
The Biden administration threw a fit and demanded that Texas remove the barrier. However, the state refused, and the U.S. Department of Justice responded by suing Texas. The case is currently pending in federal court.
As is typical in the leftist media, the Meet the Press report exaggerates: Both Alabama and Texas claim to be complying with the Supreme Court and federal statutes, respectively. The report also plays the race card, comparing Alabama’s redistricting battle to “clashes from the 1950s and 1960s between southern states and the federal government.”
However, the report also indicates growing boldness by conservative-leaning states against the far-Left’s agenda. It has become the norm for “conservatives” to cave to a leftist, big-government agenda, but with the Left’s radicalism becoming increasingly blatant, there is increasing pressure on Republican leaders to push back against its extreme agenda, and they are beginning to do that — as they ought.
State legislatures and governors should go even further, however, and boldly enforce the Constitution by nullifying unconstitutional federal edicts. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution states, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof … shall be the supreme Law of the Land” (emphasis added). Article VI also declares that state legislators, executive officials, and judges “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution.”
Additionally, the Constitution delegates only specific, enumerated powers to the federal government. The states, by contrast, retain the vast majority of powers, something James Madison affirms in The Federalist, No. 45. This is further cemented by the 10th Amendment, which makes clear that all powers not granted by the Constitution to the federal government are reserved to the states and to the people.
Accordingly, any federal action that violates or contradicts the Constitution cannot be “made in Pursuance thereof,” and, thus, is not “the supreme Law of the Land” — and state officials are duty-bound to nullify that action.
The Meet the Press report, despite having a leftist viewpoint, encouragingly suggests that states are beginning to push back against federal overreach. However, there is much more they can — and should — do to enforce the Constitution and defend America’s founding principles. It’s up to us — through building an educated electorate — to ensure that our leaders uncompromisingly defend our freedoms.
To urge your state legislators to enforce the Constitution by nullifying unconstitutional federal laws and edicts, visit The John Birch Society’s legislative alert here.
