Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump · ¶173

What do we make as well of early congressional debates? In the Second Congress, for example, the House of Representatives rejected on nondelegation grounds a proposal to give the President a largely unfettered power to establish postal routes, even though doing so hardly would have touched on life, liberty, or property. 3 Annals of Congress 229–242. In the Fifth Congress, four Representatives likewise objected on nondelegation grounds to a bill that authorized the President to raise an army of up to 10,000 men. 8 id., at 1525–1527, 1532, 1535 (remarks of Reps. Nicholas, Gallatin, Baldwin, and McDowell). Though the bill ultimately passed, see Act of May 28, 1798, 1 Stat. 558, it did so apparently because it was deemed not to violate Article I's nondelegation principle—no Member of Congress responded that the principle was wholly inapplicable because the delegated power was not one that…

preliminary print (page proof)
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.