WASHINGTON (CN) - As the White House appears increasingly at odds with local officials, the Supreme Court on Monday shot down an opportunity to review states' authority to thwart federal statutes that might be unconstitutional.
The Biden administration sued Missouri in 2022, arguing that the Second Amendment Preservation Act was unconstitutional. Missouri's law barred state officials from enforcing federal gun statutes that require registration or tracking of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition. The act also sought to bypass federal statutes forbidding such items.
Missouri said it had authority under the 10th Amendment to enact laws based on the Legislature's legal analysis of federal statutes. State lawmakers claimed that federal gun laws violated the Constitution.
The Eighth Circuit sided with the federal government, finding Missouri's act unconstitutional. The state pushed the justices to intervene.
"Federalism concerns are at their highest when the United States sues a state, especially when the suit seeks to dismantle a state law so the federal government can access resources belonging to the state," Missouri wrote.
If state laws were at risk under the 10th Amendment, Missouri claimed, then many other state actions would be under threat.
"Can a federal court override a governor's veto if the governor's veto message includes a constitutional interpretation at odds with the federal Government's?" Missouri wrote. "Can a court do the same if a governor issues a signing statement that includes that kind of constitutional interpretation, as governors regularly do?"
The Trump administration defended the prior White House's authority to sue Missouri, maintaining that the government can challenge states that purport to invalidate federal statutes.
"Just as the United States injures a state by withdrawing funding that it chose to provide, a state injures the United States by withdrawing law-enforcement assistance that it chose to provide," the government wrote.
However, the Trump administration said it no longer wished to challenge Missouri's law before it was enforced in a real dispute. The government said it would agree to narrow the lower court ruling.
Source: Courthouse News Service
