Editing Interstate compact (section)

== Legal background ==
The Compact Clause ([[Article One of the United States Constitution#Clause 3: Compact Clause|Article I, Section 10, Clause 3]]) of the [[United States Constitution]] provides that "No State shall, without the Consent of [[United States Congress|Congress]],... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power,..."<ref name="YLJ319">{{cite journal| title=The Power of the States to Make Compacts| journal=The Yale Law Journal| volume=31| issue=6| date=April 1922| pages=635–639| publisher= The Yale Law Journal Company| doi=10.2307/788529| jstor=788529}}</ref>

However, in a report released in October 2019 about the proposed [[National Popular Vote Interstate Compact]], the [[Congressional Research Service]] (CRS) cited the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]]'s ruling in ''[[Virginia v. Tennessee]]'' (1893)—reaffirmed in ''[[U.S. Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Comm'n|U.S. Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission]]'' (1978) and ''[[Cuyler v. Adams]]'' (1981)—that ruled that explicit congressional consent of interstate compacts is not required for agreements "which the United States can have no possible objection or have any interest in interfering with" (in addition to ruling that the words "agreement" and "compact" used in the Compact Clause are synonyms).{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|pp=22–23}} Instead, the Court required explicit congressional consent for interstate compacts that are "directed to the formation of any combination tending to the increase of political power in the States, which may encroach upon or interfere with the just supremacy of the United States"—meaning where the [[Balance of power (federalism)|vertical balance of power]] between the federal government and state governments is altered in favor of state governments,{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|p=24}} while the report references ''U.S. Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission'' as stating that the "pertinent inquiry [with respect to the Compact Clause] is one of potential, rather than actual, impact on federal supremacy" in noting that the potential erosion of an [[Enumerated powers (United States)|enumerated power]] of the [[United States Congress]] by an interstate compact can arguably require explicit congressional approval.{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|p=24}}<ref name="U.S. Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission">{{cite web|title=United States Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Comm'n, 434 U.S. 452 (1978)|website=[[Justia]]|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/434/452/|access-date=December 23, 2022}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> The CRS report cites the Supreme Court's rulings in ''[[Florida v. Georgia (1855)|Florida v. Georgia]]'' (1855) and in ''[[Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado]]'' (2018) as recognizing that explicit congressional consent is also required for interstate compacts that alter the horizontal balance of power amongst state governments.{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|pp=24–25}}

Citing ''[[Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority v. Citizens for Abatement of Aircraft Noise, Inc.]]'' (1991) as stating that if an enumerated power under the Constitution is legislative, then "Congress must exercise it in conformity with the [[bicameralism]] and [[Presentment Clause|presentment requirements]] of [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 7: Bills|Article I, Section VII]]", and noting that the [[Republican River#Republican River Compact|Republican River Compact]] was initially [[Veto power in the United States|vetoed]] by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1942, the CRS report states that if an interstate compact requires explicit congressional approval, it must be approved by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President in order to become law.{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|p=26}} In ''Cuyler v. Adams'', the Court held that congressional approval of interstate compacts makes them [[Law of the United States#Federal law|federal law]]s.<ref name="Cuyler v. Adams">{{cite web|title=Cuyler v. Adams, 449 U.S. 433 (1981)|website=[[Justia]]|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/449/433/|access-date=December 23, 2022}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Drake|first=Ian J.|date=September 20, 2013|title=Federal Roadblocks: The Constitution and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact|journal=[[Publius (journal)|Publius: The Journal of Federalism]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|volume=44|issue=4|pages=691–694|doi=10.1093/publius/pjt037}}</ref> The CRS report cites the Court's opinions in ''Virginia v. Tennessee'' and ''[[Bank of New England#Formation and interstate growth|Northeast Bancorp v. Federal Reserve Board of Governors]]'' (1985) as stating that any agreement between two or more states that "cover[s] all stipulations affecting the conduct or claims of the parties", prohibits members from "modify[ing] or repeal[ing] [the agreement] unilaterally", and requires "'reciprocation' of mutual obligations" constitutes an interstate compact.{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|pp=23–24}} Additionally, the CRS report cites the Court's opinion in ''Northeast Bancorp'' as suggesting that a requirement of a new interstate governmental entity is a [[Necessity and sufficiency|sufficient condition]] for an agreement to qualify as being an interstate compact under the Compact Clause.{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|pp=22–23}} The CRS report stated that there were approximately 200 interstate compacts in effect in 2019.{{sfn|Neale|Nolan|2019|p=22}}

The timing for Congressional consent is not specified by the Constitution, so consent may be given either before or after the states have agreed to a particular compact. The consent may be explicit, but it may also be inferred from circumstances. Congress may also impose conditions as part of its approval of a compact.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI_S10_C3_3/%22interstate%20compacts%22/|title=Compacts Clause {{!}} Constitution Annotated {{!}} Congress.gov {{!}} Library of Congress|website=constitution.congress.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-04-14|archive-date=2021-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903230930/https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI_S10_C3_3/%22interstate%20compacts%22/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Congress must explicitly approve any compact that would give a state power that is otherwise designated to the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]].<ref name=NCICpdf>{{cite web| title=Interstate Compacts Fact Sheet| url=https://www.csg.org/knowledgecenter/docs/ncic/FactSheet.pdf| website=csg.org| publisher=National Center for Interstate Compacts| location=Lexington, Kentucky| access-date=April 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310081539/https://www.csg.org/knowledgecenter/docs/ncic/FactSheet.pdf |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>