Source: Reason
by Damon Root
“The nondelegation doctrine says that Congress may delegate its legislative authority to the president only under certain limited circumstances. Those limits are there to enforce the constitutional separation of powers. Thomas would eliminate many of those limits. In his view, the nondelegation doctrine simply should not apply when a case involves what he characterizes as a non-core legislative power. What is a non-core legislative power? Thomas offered a few examples, including ‘the powers to raise and support armies’ and ‘to regulate foreign commerce.’ According to Thomas, because these powers originally descended from the kingly authority of the British crown, it is entirely proper for Congress to surrender them without limit to the executive branch. One problem with this argument is that it runs counter to the text of the Constitution.” (02/24/26)