Since last summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have used an obscure federal regulation to impose a nationwide moratorium on a huge chunk of residential evictions. This is constitutionally dubious, to say the least. But the CDC just extended it through June. The moratorium’s proponents argue that federal authority over interstate commerce permits this move. But the Interstate Commerce Clause isn’t a plenary power over all areas of life simply because everything, at a certain point, can be linked to commercial activity. The Tenth Amendment makes clear that all powers not expressly delegated to the federal government are left to the states. Still, the…
Author: Sam Spiegelman
Sam Spiegelman
Sam Spiegelman is a legal associate in the Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies. Before joining Cato, he practiced securities law at an international law firm in New York City. Sam earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Federalist Society and served on the senior editorial board of the Virginia Tax Review. Sam holds a B.A. in history and political science from the University of Michigan.