Legislative power

Regulate interstate commerce

Congress may regulate commerce 'among the several States', the enumerated power that carries more modern federal law than any other. Workplace standards, civil rights accommodations, drug laws, and environmental statutes all rest on it.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3

Read the clause itself, verbatim and in plain language, in the in-app Constitution.

Held by

Congress

U.S. Representative U.S. Senator

How it works in practice

Congress legislates; the fights are about reach. The Supreme CourtThe only court the Constitution itself creates. Nine Justices, life tenure, and near-total control over which cases they hear.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) reads the power to cover the channels and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and activities that substantially affect it, a line drawn expansively since the New Deal but not infinitely: United States v. Lopez (1995) and NFIB v. Sebelius (2012) both found its edge.

The answering checks

The courtsStrike laws beyond the commerce power's reach, and police discrimination against interstate commerce by states.

The statesKeep their general police powers; the commerce power does not become a national police powerThe general authority of states to legislate for public health, safety, morals, and welfare. It is the constitutional basis for most state and local law.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).

See it in the app

Source

Constitution Annotated, Commerce Clause

Terms to know: Commerce ClauseCongress's power to regulate commerce 'among the several States', the constitutional basis for much of modern federal law.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) · enumerated powersThe specific powers the Constitution lists for Congress, chiefly in Article I, Section 8. The federal government holds these listed powers, not a general power to legislate.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) · federalismThe division of power between the national government and the states: each sovereign in its sphere, sharing the same territory and citizens.Read the full definition (opens a new tab)

Plain-language civic education, not legal advice. The live boundaries of this power are set case by case; the sources above and the constitutional text control.