An Intellectual Crisis in American Federalism: The Meaning of Garcia

In National League of Cities v. Usery (1976), the U.S. SupremeCourt found that the Tenth Amendment requires the existenceof a set of essential state powers that remains beyond the reachof congressional regulation or preemption. The Court reverseditself in Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority(1985), holding that the Tenth Amendment provides the Courtno basis on which to limit the Congress in the exercise of itscommerce powers. We argue that, although contradictory, bothholdings can be inferred validly from the U.S. Constitution.This absurd result reveals profound inconsistencies in the constitutionaldesign of federalism, requiring a constitutional solution. Thearticle concludes with a discussion of a variety of constitutionalremedies, including constitutional amendments.