Supremacy Clause

The Supremacy Clause is Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution. It makes the Constitution, valid federal laws, and treaties supreme over conflicting state laws within their scope.

Federal preemption: Federal preemption is the displacement of state law by federal law under the Supremacy Clause. It describes how the clause resolves conflicts between valid federal rules and state rules.
United States Constitution: The United States Constitution is the nation’s foundational legal charter, establishing federal institutions and limiting governmental powers. The Supremacy Clause is one of its provisions, in Article VI.
McCulloch v. Maryland: McCulloch v. Maryland was an 1819 Supreme Court decision upholding Congress’s implied powers and barring Maryland from taxing the national bank. The Court used federal supremacy to reject a state tax that burdened a federal instrument.
Anti-commandeering doctrine: The anti-commandeering doctrine bars Congress from compelling states to enact or administer a federal regulatory program. Federal supremacy does not itself authorize commandeering state governments.
Conflict preemption: Conflict preemption occurs when state law makes compliance with federal law impossible or obstructs federal objectives. This is the clause’s clearest route to displacing a state rule.
Enumerated powers: Enumerated powers are authorities expressly granted to the federal government by the Constitution. Federal law can claim supremacy only when grounded in constitutional federal authority.
Gibbons v. Ogden: Gibbons v. Ogden was an 1824 Supreme Court decision holding that federal authority over interstate commerce displaced a conflicting state steamboat monopoly. It demonstrates federal law prevailing over a state-granted exclusive license.
Tenth Amendment: The Tenth Amendment reserves powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the states, to the states or the people. It marks constitutional limits on federal authority behind claims of supremacy.
Field preemption: Field preemption occurs when federal regulation is so pervasive that it leaves no room for state regulation in a field. Courts may infer that federal law occupies a field even without a direct contradiction.
Necessary and Proper Clause: The Necessary and Proper Clause authorizes Congress to enact laws useful for carrying out its enumerated powers. It helps define the constitutional basis of federal statutes that may displace state law.

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