National League of Cities et al. v. Usery, Secretary of Labor

Decided June 24, 1976. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-878 · 426 U.S. 833 (1976) · Cited 1,143 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“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.

• Maryland v. Wirtz · 392 U.S. 183 (1968)
• Fry v. United States · 421 U.S. 542 (1975)
• United States v. California · 297 U.S. 175 (1936)
• New York v. United States · 326 U.S. 572 (1946)
• Case v. Bowles · 327 U.S. 92 (1946)
• United States v. Darby · 312 U.S. 100 (1941)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• Lane County v. Oregon · 74 U.S. 71 (1869)
• Parden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama State Docks Department · 377 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Employees of Department of Public Health v. Department of Public Health · 411 U.S. 279 (1973)
• Metcalf & Eddy v. Mitchell · 269 U.S. 514 (1926)
• Helvering v. Gerhardt · 304 U.S. 405 (1938)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• Leary v. United States · 395 U.S. 6 (1969)
• United States v. Jackson · 390 U.S. 570 (1968)
• Wickard v. Filburn · 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
• Katzenbach v. McClung · 379 U.S. 294 (1964)
• H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond · 336 U.S. 525 (1949)
• Cantor v. Detroit Edison Co. · 428 U.S. 579 (1976)
• Oklahoma v. United States Civil Service Commission · 330 U.S. 127 (1947)
• Santa Cruz Fruit Packing Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 303 U.S. 453 (1938)
• Mulford v. Smith · 307 U.S. 38 (1939)
• Oklahoma Ex Rel. Phillips v. Guy F. Atkinson Co. · 313 U.S. 508 (1941)
• Sanitary District of Chicago v. United States · 266 U.S. 405 (1925)
• California v. Taylor · 353 U.S. 553 (1957)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• United States v. Bass · 404 U.S. 336 (1971)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)

Cited by

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

• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming · 460 U.S. 226 (1983)
• Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc. · 452 U.S. 264 (1981)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)
• United Transportation Union v. Long Island Rail Road · 455 U.S. 678 (1982)
• City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co. · 435 U.S. 389 (1978)
• City of Rome v. United States · 446 U.S. 156 (1980)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• United States v. Gillock · 445 U.S. 360 (1980)
• South Carolina v. Regan · 465 U.S. 367 (1984)
• South Carolina v. Baker · 485 U.S. 505 (1988)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Reeves, Inc. v. Stake · 447 U.S. 429 (1980)
• United Haulers Ass'n v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority · 550 U.S. 330 (2007)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. · 438 U.S. 59 (1978)
• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• United States Trust Co. of NY v. New Jersey · 431 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Hodel v. Indiana · 452 U.S. 314 (1981)
• Massachusetts v. United States · 435 U.S. 444 (1978)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• United States v. Lopez · 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• Auer v. Robbins · 519 U.S. 452 (1997)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).