March 31, 2011 11:46AM 

# States Resisting Federal Power 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

If two points are sufficient to draw a trend line, then state resistance to federal authority is growing.

I [reported earlier](https://www.cato.org/is-the-real-id-rebellion-coming-to-florida/) on my recent testimony to the Florida legislature on REAL ID. The state’s legislators have taken notice of what the motor vehicle bureaucrats have been doing in collaboration with federal officials, and they’re not too happy.

Yesterday, I was pleased to [testify in the Pennsylvania legislature](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12924), where legislation to push back against the Transportation Security Administration’s [strip/​grope policy](https://www.cato.org/strip-or-grope-vs-risk-management/) at airports has been introduced. The Constitution’s Supremacy Clause seems to make federal law paramount, but states have many angles for challenging federal power, especially when it’s as flawed and reactive as the TSA’s airport checkpoint policies.

##### Related Tags 

[Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).