Department of Commerce, et al. v. United States House of Representatives et al.

Decided January 25, 1999. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 98-404 · 525 U.S. 316 (1999) · Cited 247 times

Holding

The Plan’s amendments are not prohibited by ERISA.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Wisconsin v. City of New York · 517 U.S. 1 (1996)
• Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation · 497 U.S. 871 (1990)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas · 495 U.S. 149 (1990)
• Stone v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 514 U.S. 386 (1995)
• Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council · 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• Franklin v. Massachusetts · 505 U.S. 788 (1992)
• Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. McLaughlin · 323 U.S. 101 (1944)
• Coleman v. Miller · 307 U.S. 433 (1939)
• Green v. Bock Laundry MacHine Co. · 490 U.S. 504 (1989)
• Chisom v. Roemer · 501 U.S. 380 (1991)
• Karcher v. Daggett · 462 U.S. 725 (1983)
• Edmond v. United States · 520 U.S. 651 (1997)
• Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs v. Perini North River Associates · 459 U.S. 297 (1983)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Utah v. Evans · 536 U.S. 452 (2002)
• Department of Commerce v. New York · 588 U.S. 752 (2019)
• Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez · 572 U.S. 1 (2014)
• Trump v. New York · 592 U.S. 125 (2020)
• Clapper v. Amnesty International USA · 568 U.S. 398 (2013)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1999). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).