No preemption: state tort claims proceed unless they directly conflict with a specific federal statute or constitutional command.

1) The question is whether the Supremacy Clause preempts South Carolina tort claims for negligent supervision, entrustment, and retention against Fluor Corporation, whose employee—a Taliban operative—attacked a U.S. base in Afghanistan, violating military orders. 2) Article VI, Clause 2 states: 'This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.' Article I, Section 8 grants Congress powers to declare war (Clause 11), raise armies (Clause 12), and provide for militia (Clauses 15-16); Article II, Section 2 makes the President Commander in Chief. The Tenth Amendment reserves undelegated powers to the states. No provision immunizes private contractors from state tort liability. 3) At ratification in 1788, state common-law tort remedies governed private negligence, even amid war; federal war powers authorized government action but did not shield private parties absent explicit congressional acts displacing state law, as states retained general police powers over harms within their reach (including extraterritorial effects on citizens). Federalist No. 78 explains courts resolve only actual conflicts between federal enactments and state law. 4) Holding: Fluor’s claims face no preemption. Private contractors lack derivative immunity under war powers; state tort law applies unless it precisely contradicts a federal statute or order—here, Fluor allegedly violated military instructions, creating no conflict. 5) Downstream, courts apply direct-conflict test only; state suits proceed against contractors for unauthorized acts in war zones, preserving military discretion while enforcing baseline negligence standards; overbroad 'combatant activities' preemption doctrines voided.