Part One - The Structure of Government · Module 4
The Taxing and Spending Power
Congress's checkbook powers and their conditions — from Butler through Dole to the NFIB spending holding.
Topics
The purposes for which Congress may tax and spend. Conditions on grants to State governments. The taxing power after NFIB.
Reading list
0 of 7 readings published · the rest are in preparation and will appear here as they are edited
- Opinion United States v. Butler
- Note Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. (The Child Labor Tax Case)
- Note Chas. C. Steward Machine Co. v. Davis
- Note Helvering v. Davis
- Note Sabri v. United States
- Opinion South Dakota v. Dole
- Opinion (edited) National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (redux)
- Current case Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections & Public Safety, No. 23-1197 (U.S. June 23, 2026) (what a private plaintiff may recover when a State accepts federal funds subject to a statutory condition).
How to read this list
A case named without a marker is assigned as an opinion and is to be read in its entirety. Opinion (edited) means the Professor has cut it for length; the text on this site is the assigned text. Note means the case is not assigned as an opinion at all — its holding, its facts to the extent they matter, and its place in the doctrinal line are given in a note written for this course, and you are responsible for that note exactly as you are responsible for an assigned opinion. Most modules close with a Current case, a recent decision chosen because it shows the doctrine you have just read being applied at its live edge; current cases are assigned as opinions. You are responsible for all assigned required materials, including the notes, questions, problems and commentary that accompany the cases, whether or not we discuss them in class.