What did Schechter Poultry decide about the National Industrial Recovery Act?

What did Schechter Poultry decide about the National Industrial Recovery Act?

• A. Declared NIRA unconstitutional because it regulated local business that didn't affect interstate commerce
• B. Validated NIRA as necessary for interstate commerce
• C. Allowed more federal control over industry
• D. Upheld executive power in economic regulation

Answer: (A)

The question tests the limits of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause when it comes to regulating intrastate activity. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States held that the National Industrial Recovery Act went too far by regulating local, intrastate business that did not have a direct effect on interstate commerce. The Court concluded that Congress had not only exceeded its commerce authority, but also delegated broad legislative power to the President to approve codes without sufficient standards. Because the act aimed to regulate purely local activity, it failed to connect to interstate commerce in a constitutionally permissible way, and so the statute was unconstitutional. That’s why the other ideas don’t fit: the decision did not validate NIRA as necessary for interstate commerce, nor did it affirm broader federal control or executive power in economic regulation.

The question tests the limits of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause when it comes to regulating intrastate activity. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States held that the National Industrial Recovery Act went too far by regulating local, intrastate business that did not have a direct effect on interstate commerce. The Court concluded that Congress had not only exceeded its commerce authority, but also delegated broad legislative power to the President to approve codes without sufficient standards. Because the act aimed to regulate purely local activity, it failed to connect to interstate commerce in a constitutionally permissible way, and so the statute was unconstitutional.

That’s why the other ideas don’t fit: the decision did not validate NIRA as necessary for interstate commerce, nor did it affirm broader federal control or executive power in economic regulation.