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Documents & Cases

The founding texts, landmark statutes, executive orders, and Supreme Court cases that define how government operates. · 66 entries

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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
The case that established the power of federal courts to strike down laws that violate the Constitution
The Constitution of the United States
The supreme law of the land: seven articles and twenty-seven amendments that structure the federal government
Trump v. United States (2024)
The presidential immunity decision: absolute for core powers, presumptive for other official acts, none for private conduct
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
The law that gave Congress its own budget process and limited a President's power to refuse to spend appropriated money
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The Constitution
18 entries
The Constitution article by article, plus the amendments that changed how the government is structured.
Structural Statutes
24 entries
The acts of Congress that built the machinery: the Judiciary Act, the APA, the Budget Act, the National Security Act, and their successors.
Structural Cases
24 entries
Supreme Court decisions that drew the lines between the branches and between Washington and the states.
All Documents & Cases (A–Z) A–Z By date
A B C E F G H I J L M N P R S T U W Y

A

Administrative Procedure Act
The 1946 law that governs how every federal agency makes rules, decides cases, and is reviewed by courts
Antideficiency Act
The law barring federal officials from spending or obligating money beyond what Congress has appropriated, the legal reason government shuts down when funding lapses
Article I: The Legislative Branch
The longest article of the Constitution, creating Congress, listing its powers, and limiting both Congress and the states
Article II: The Executive Branch
The article that creates the presidency in four sections, leaving much of the office's power to interpretation
Article III: The Judicial Branch
Three short sections that create the Supreme Court, protect judges, define federal jurisdiction, and define treason
Article IV: The States
The article that governs relations among the states and between the states and the national government, from full faith and credit to new states and territories
Article V: The Amendment Process
The article that sets the two-step process for amending the Constitution, requiring supermajorities in Congress or the states and ratification by three-fourths of the states
Article VI: Supremacy, Oaths, and Debts
The article that honors the nation's prior debts, makes federal law supreme, binds officials by oath to the Constitution, and forbids religious tests for office
Article VII: Ratification
The final article, which made the Constitution effective once conventions in nine states approved it, bypassing the Articles of Confederation's unanimity rule
The Articles of Confederation Dissolved
The first national constitution, in force from 1781 to 1789, which created a league of sovereign states with a weak Congress and no executive or national courts

B

Baker v. Carr (1962)
The case that opened federal courts to challenges against malapportioned legislative districts and defined the modern political question doctrine
The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, which limit government power and protect individual liberties, now applied to the states as well
Budget and Accounting Act of 1921
The law that created the modern federal budget, requiring an annual presidential budget and establishing the Bureau of the Budget and the General Accounting Office
Bush v. Gore (2000)
The case that ended the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election, effectively deciding the presidency for George W. Bush

C

Chevron v. NRDC (1984) Dissolved
The case that told courts to defer to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, the most cited administrative law ruling until it was overruled in 2024
Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990
The law that created chief financial officers in major federal agencies and required audited financial statements, the basis of modern federal financial management
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
The law that replaced the Civil Service Commission with OPM, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the FLRA, created the Senior Executive Service, and set federal labor rules
Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
The case that struck down the Line Item Veto Act, holding that the President cannot cancel parts of a law after signing it
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
The law that gave Congress its own budget process and limited a President's power to refuse to spend appropriated money
The Constitution of the United States
The supreme law of the land: seven articles and twenty-seven amendments that structure the federal government
Cooper v. Aaron (1958)
The Little Rock case in which all nine justices declared that state officials are bound by the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution

E

Electoral Count Act and the 2022 Reform
The 1887 law governing how states certify and Congress counts presidential electoral votes, and its 2022 overhaul after the disputes of 2020 and January 6, 2021
Ethics in Government Act of 1978
The post-Watergate law that requires financial disclosure by senior officials, created the Office of Government Ethics, tightened post-employment rules, and established the independent counsel

F

Federal Advisory Committee Act
The 1972 law requiring federal advisory committees to be chartered, balanced, and open to the public, so outside advice to government is transparent
Federal Reserve Act
The 1913 law creating the Federal Reserve System of regional reserve banks and a central board, the foundation of U.S. monetary policy and banking supervision
Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998
The law setting who may temporarily perform the duties of a Senate-confirmed executive office when it is vacant, and for how long
The Federalist Papers
The 85 essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, published as Publius in 1787 and 1788, that explain and defend the Constitution's structure

G

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
The steamboat case in which Chief Justice John Marshall read the Commerce Clause broadly and struck down a state monopoly that conflicted with federal law

H

Hatch Act
The 1939 law limiting partisan political activity by federal employees, and some state and local workers, to keep government work separate from campaigns
Homeland Security Act of 2002
The law that created the Department of Homeland Security by merging 22 agencies, the largest reorganization of the federal government since 1947
Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935)
The case that let Congress protect independent commissioners from being fired by the President, now under challenge

I

INS v. Chadha (1983)
The case that struck down the legislative veto in nearly two hundred laws in a single ruling
Inspector General Act of 1978
The law that created independent inspectors general inside federal agencies to audit and investigate waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct, reporting to both agency heads and Congress
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
The law that followed the 9/11 Commission's recommendations by creating the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center

J

Judiciary Act of 1789
The law that built the federal court system the Constitution only sketched

L

Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946
The law that modernized Congress after World War II by consolidating its committees, creating professional committee staffs, and requiring lobbyists to register
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024)
The case that overruled Chevron and ended forty years of judicial deference to agency readings of ambiguous laws

M

Marbury v. Madison (1803)
The case that established the power of federal courts to strike down laws that violate the Constitution
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
The case that confirmed Congress's implied powers and barred states from taxing federal institutions
Morrison v. Olson (1988)
The case that upheld the independent counsel law over Justice Antonin Scalia's famous lone dissent
Myers v. United States (1926)
The case holding that the President may remove executive officers he appoints without the Senate's consent, the foundation of modern removal power doctrine

N

National Security Act of 1947
The Cold War law that created the CIA, the National Security Council, an independent Air Force, and the Secretary of Defense
NFIB v. Sebelius (2012)
The Affordable Care Act case that upheld the individual mandate as a tax, rejected it under the Commerce Clause, and limited the Medicaid expansion
NLRB v. Noel Canning (2014)
The case that limited recess appointments, holding that the Senate is in session when it says it is and that breaks under ten days are presumptively too short

P

Paperwork Reduction Act
The 1980 law that created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and requires OMB approval before agencies collect information from the public
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
The 1883 law that founded the federal merit system, requiring competitive examinations for covered jobs and barring political firings and forced contributions
Powell v. McCormack (1969)
The case holding that the House cannot exclude a duly elected member who meets the Constitution's age, citizenship, and residence requirements
The Preamble
The Constitution's 52-word opening: who ordains it and the six purposes it serves
Presidential Records Act
The 1978 law making the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents public property, transferred to the National Archives when they leave office
Presidential Succession Act
The law, last rewritten in 1947, that sets the order of officials who would act as President if both the presidency and vice presidency were vacant
Printz v. United States (1997)
The case holding that Congress cannot order state and local officers to carry out federal programs, the core of the anti-commandeering doctrine

R

The Reorganization Acts Dissolved
The series of laws from 1932 to 1984 that let Presidents restructure the executive branch through plans that took effect unless Congress objected

S

Seila Law v. CFPB (2020)
The case holding that an agency led by a single director cannot be shielded from presidential removal, a key step in expanding presidential control of agencies
The Seventeenth Amendment
The 1913 amendment providing for the direct election of senators by the voters of each state, replacing election by state legislatures

T

Trump v. Anderson (2024)
The case holding that states cannot disqualify federal candidates under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, reversing Colorado's removal of Donald Trump from its ballot
Trump v. CASA (2025)
The case that sharply limited universal injunctions, holding that federal courts generally may grant relief only to the parties before them
Trump v. United States (2024)
The presidential immunity decision: absolute for core powers, presumptive for other official acts, none for private conduct
The Twelfth Amendment
The 1804 amendment requiring electors to cast separate votes for President and Vice President, adopted after the deadlocked election of 1800
The Twentieth Amendment
The 1933 Lame Duck Amendment, which moved Inauguration Day to January 20 and the start of Congress to January 3, and set rules for a President-elect's death
The Twenty-fifth Amendment
The 1967 amendment that clarifies presidential succession, provides for filling a vice presidential vacancy, and sets procedures for presidential disability
The Twenty-second Amendment
The 1951 amendment limiting a President to two elected terms, written into the Constitution after Franklin Roosevelt won four
The Twenty-seventh Amendment
The amendment barring a congressional pay change from taking effect until after the next House election, proposed in 1789 and ratified in 1992

U

United States v. Nixon (1974)
The unanimous ruling that forced a President to surrender the Watergate tapes and led to his resignation

W

War Powers Resolution
The 1973 law, passed over Nixon's veto, meant to restore Congress's role in deciding when the country fights
West Virginia v. EPA (2022)
The case that formally named the major questions doctrine, limiting the EPA's power to shift the electricity grid away from coal

Y

Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)
The steel seizure case, and the three-part framework for judging presidential power that courts still use