In Case You Missed It
In a new op-ed for MSNBC, IHS Fellow Andy Craig defends the constitutional principle of federalism as a vital safeguard for liberty, and notes that progressives are picking up on this in the age of Trump.
Craig responds directly to President Trump’s claim that “the states are just an agent of the federal government,” calling it a “remarkable—and deeply wrong—assertion.” As he explains, the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment and a long history of legal precedent affirm that states are not subordinates, but are sovereign entities in their own right. When the federal government overreaches, it is often the states that are best positioned to push back.
“Federalism is not inherently a conservative principle; it is a bedrock structural foundation for the system of government created by the Constitution. We are, after all, still the United States—it’s right there in the name.”
Craig notes that Democratic governors and attorneys general have increasingly embraced this approach, resisting federal overreach on immigration, education, and civil rights enforcement. From legal challenges to administrative noncooperation, states are asserting their constitutional authority to protect their residents, defending the Constitution and the rule of law in the process.
From opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act to early pushes for marriage equality, states have often led in expanding rights and challenging federal injustice. As Craig puts it, federalism can and should be used to “empower states to expand rights, not restrict them.”
Read the full piece: “‘States’ rights’ are crucial to protecting American liberties”
