“The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said. (Read the whole thing here.)
Well, I think Little Rock and the 101st Airborne Division would be surprised by that. And so would Jefferson Davis. I'm as much of a Federalist as anyone, but we do have a Constitution and that Constitution gives supremacy over state acts to acts passed by the Congress. This was settled legally in Mucculloch v. Maryland (1819) and, on the ground at Appomattox Court House. This is insane. Even though I didn't expect anything good from President Obama, I didn't expect him to try to reverse the outcome of the Civil War. This is why we should never elect lawyers to be President. They think everything, law and history included, is flexible.
Solution to the problem: The President can simply state that the 10th Amendment forbids enforcing the Law (whether or not it does is not relevant.) and then stop enforcing the law. But to say "federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws" flies in the face of history and settled law, and begs for social discord.
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