Environmental Health Workforce Act of 2026

This bill, as described only by its title, appears to authorize federal expenditures and regulations concerning the environmental health workforce. Under the Constitution, Congress may appropriate funds for the general welfare (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) and regulate interstate commerce (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). However, the Tenth Amendment reserves to the states powers not delegated to the United States. The Federalist No. 33 instructs that the necessary and proper clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) is limited to carrying into execution enumerated powers, not a general gran…

This bill, by establishing a federal workforce for environmental health, exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress as defined in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment reserves to the States or to the people all powers not delegated to the United States. The regulation of environmental health and the training of a workforce for such purposes are not among the powers granted to Congress, nor are they necessary and proper for executing any enumerated power. Such matters are properly left to the States and to local communities, as they involve the general police power which…

The Constitution vests in Congress only those powers enumerated in Article I, Section 8. The proposed 'Environmental Health Workforce Act' appears to address matters of public health and occupational training, which traditionally fall within the police powers reserved to the States under the Tenth Amendment. Unless the bill is expressly tied to an enumerated power—such as regulating interstate commerce (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) or providing for the general welfare through spending (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1)—it may exceed the limited authority of the federal government. In Federali…

This bill, which proposes to establish a federal environmental health workforce, must be examined under the principles of enumerated powers and necessary and proper means. The Constitution grants Congress specific powers, including the power to regulate interstate commerce under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, and to make all laws necessary and proper for executing those powers under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18. In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), this Court held that Congress may employ means not expressly enumerated, provided they are appropriate and plainly adapted to a legitimate end, and…