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2  NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS v.

OSHA 
GORSUCH, J., concurring 

* 
I start with this Court’s precedents.  There is no question
that state and local authorities possess considerable power 
to regulate public health.  They enjoy the “general power of 
governing,”  including  all  sovereign  powers  envisioned  by
the Constitution and not specifically vested in the federal 
government.  National Federation of Independent Business 
v. Sebelius, 567 U. S. 519, 536 (2012) (opinion of ROBERTS, 
C. J.); U. S. Const., Amdt. 10.  And in fact, States have pur-
sued a variety of measures in response to the current pan-
demic.  E.g., Cal. Dept. of Public Health, All Facilities Let-
ter 21–28.1 (Dec. 27, 2021); see also N. Y. Pub. Health Law
Ann. § 2164 (West 2021).

The federal government’s powers, however, are not gen-
eral but limited and divided.  See McCulloch v. Maryland, 
4 Wheat. 316, 405 (1819).  Not only must the federal gov-
ernment  properly  invoke  a  constitutionally  enumerated
source of authority to regulate in this area or any other.  It 
must also act consistently with the Constitution’s separa-
tion of powers.  And when it comes to that obligation, this
Court  has  established  at  least  one  firm  rule:    “We  expect 
Congress to speak clearly” if it wishes to assign to an exec-
utive agency decisions “of vast economic and  political sig-
nificance.”  Alabama  Assn.  of  Realtors  v.  Department  of 
Health and Human Servs., 594 U. S. ___, ___ (2021) (per cu-
riam) (slip op., at 6) (internal quotation marks omitted).  We 
sometimes call this the major questions doctrine.  Gundy v. 
United States, 588 U. S. ___, ___ (2019) (GORSUCH, J., dis-
senting) (slip op., at 20).

OSHA’s  mandate  fails  that  doctrine’s  test.    The  agency
claims the power to force 84 million Americans to receive a
vaccine or undergo regular testing.  By any measure, that 
is  a  claim  of  power  to  resolve  a  question  of  vast  national
significance.  Yet Congress has nowhere clearly assigned so 
much  power  to  OSHA.    Approximately  two  years  have
passed  since  this  pandemic  began;  vaccines  have  been