Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-806_2dp3.pdf
Page Number: 59

Cite as:  599 U. S. ____ (2023) 

27 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

of this nature, entered into freely by both parties, is an 
exercise of sovereign regulation and control over one of
the parties or over the subject matter with which the
contract deals. . . . The rights of the United States un-
der  the  contracts  are  no  greater  than  would  be  the 
rights of a private citizen under similar contracts, and
enforcement  must  be  by  ordinary  judicial  process  ac-
cording to the law of the forum.  The contracts are not 
derogatory of any sovereign rights of the States; they 
are carried out pursuant to and under the protection of 
the laws of the States. . . . The purpose and effect of the
contracts so entered into are simply to accomplish the
spending  of  the  money  on  the  conditions  imposed  by
Congress,  and  in  authorizing  execution  of  such  con-
tracts Congress was not exerting a power outside of the 
field of appropriation.”  Id., at 266–267. 

The Government also disclaimed that the Act would have 
pre-emptive effect: Because it went “no further than offer-
ing benefits to those who comply with certain conditions,” 
States “remain[ed] as free after the passage of this Act as
before to pass laws rendering it impossible for any of their 
inhabitants  to  comply  with  such  conditions.”  Id.,  at  268. 
Thus, to avoid a Tenth Amendment problem, the Govern-
ment relied on the traditional distinction between the Fed-
eral  Government’s  power  to  spend  and  its  power  to  regu-
late: 

“The distinction between an application of the Fed-
eral lawmaking power to enforce compliance with the 
desire of Congress and the use of the spending power 
to  offer  benefits  which  might  persuade  people  to  that 
end [was] recognized in this manner by th[e] first Con-
gresses. 
.

 . 

 .

 .

 .

“When  the  United  States  goes  no  further  than  ex-
tending benefits to citizens who arrange their affairs in