Article VI''s Supremacy Clause declares that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties made under U.S. authority constitute the supreme law of the land, binding state judges regardless of conflicting state constitutions or laws. The Framers included this provision to fix problems under the Articles of Confederation, when states ignored federal statutes without state legislation implementing them. During ratification debates, Anti-Federalists objected to making treaties superior to state law, but federal supremacy advocates prevailed. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes noted the Clause''s clear language establishing national treaties as supreme over any state law. Early Supreme Court cases invoked the Clause to invalidate state laws conflicting with federal treaties and statutes. The provision prevents states from undermining foreign policy by refusing to comply with international agreements the President and Senate approve. It reflects the Framers'' concern that states would encroach on federal authority and ignore the national government without explicit constitutional text establishing federal supremacy in foreign affairs and other enumerated powers.
When a treaty is supreme law, no state can undermine national commitments by simply ignoring them. If states could pick and choose which treaty obligations to follow based on state law, international agreements would collapse. Treaty supremacy is what makes international law binding at all.
People often think the federal government can override treaties with state laws. The Supremacy Clause makes clear it cannot—any treaty ratified by the Senate is the supreme law of the land, binding all states and pre-empting conflicting state law. This doesn't make states powerless; it ensures federal authority in foreign affairs.
When a treaty is supreme law, no state can undermine national commitments by simply ignoring them. If states could pick and choose which treaty obligations to follow based on state law, international agreements would collapse. Treaty supremacy is what makes international law binding at all.
People often think the federal government can override treaties with state laws. The Supremacy Clause makes clear it cannot—any treaty ratified by the Senate is the supreme law of the land, binding all states and pre-empting conflicting state law. This doesn't make states powerless; it ensures federal authority in foreign affairs.