Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-806_2dp3.pdf
Page Number: 53.0

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

21 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

In his second term, President Monroe set forth the fullest 
exposition  of  the  understanding  that  the  spending  power 
involved no regulatory authority.  In 1822, Congress passed
a  bill  to  establish  a  system  of  internal  improvements,  as-
serting  the  “power  to  establish  turnpikes  with  gates  and
tolls, and to enforce the collection of tolls by [federal] pen-
alties.”  Sky 147 (internal quotation marks omitted).  Pres-
ident Monroe then vetoed the measure, judging that Con-
gress’ spending authority did not extend to such “a complete
right of jurisdiction and sovereignty for all the purposes of 
internal improvement, and not merely the right of applying
money under the power vested in Congress to make appro-
priations.”  2 Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789–
1908, p. 142 (J. Richardson ed. 1897) (Richardson).  Because 
Monroe understood “that Congress do[es] not possess this
power  [and]  the  States  individually  can  not  grant  it,”  he 
agreed with Madison and Hamilton that the “power can be
granted only by an amendment to the Constitution.”  Id., at 
143. 

To explain his veto, President Monroe sent Congress an 
extensive  report  entitled  “Views  of  the  President  of  the 
United States on the Subject of Internal Improvements.”  In 
this report—perhaps “the most elaborate constitutional dis-
cussion ever sent to the Capitol from the White House”—
Monroe  synthesized  the  understanding  of  the  spending
power  from  the  founding  of  the  Republic.    L.  Rogers,  The 
Postal Power of Congress 75 (1916).  And, in doing so, he 
largely settled the contours of that understanding for over 
a century.

In  the  centerpiece  of  the  Views,  Monroe  explained  that 
the spending power carries no incidental power to regulate 
individuals  or  States.  Echoing  Hamilton,  Monroe  under-
stood the spending power to consist of “a right to appropri-
ate the public money, and nothing more.”  Richardson 162. 

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maintain internal improvements.  32 Annals of Cong. 1381–1389 (1818).