The New Deal stretched federal power further than ever in peacetime. Its laws reached factories, farms and wages, which the Supreme Court had long treated as matters for the states. A clash between the President and the Court followed, a case study in checks and balances.
Key idea
The Court struck down parts of the New Deal (Schechter, 1935). Roosevelt's 1937 plan to add justices failed in Congress, but that year the Court began upholding economic regulation (West Coast Hotel v. Parrish; NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin).
Why it works
In 1935 and 1936 the Court struck down the National Industrial Recovery Act (Schechter) and the first farm program (United States v. Butler, 1936). After winning a landslide in 1936, Roosevelt proposed in February 1937 to add up to six new justices, one for each justice over 70 who did not retire. Critics, including many Democrats, called it "court packing" and an attack on judicial independence; the Senate set it aside that summer. Meanwhile, in March and April 1937, the Court upheld a state minimum wage (West Coast Hotel, 5 to 4) and the Wagner Act (Jones & Laughlin, 5 to 4), and in May it upheld Social Security.
Work it through
Worked example: Which branch checked which?
Trace the checks in the 1937 fight.
- Judicial on legislative and executive: the Court struck down New Deal laws (1935 to 1936).
- Executive tries to check the judicial: Roosevelt proposed adding justices, which Congress may do by law.
- Legislative checks the executive: Congress refused to pass the plan.
Answer: The Court checked Congress and the President; the President tried to check the Court; Congress checked the President.
Common mistake
Many students think the court-packing plan passed. Congress rejected it. The Court's rulings shifted anyway (some point to Justice Owen Roberts's vote, which historians show was cast in West Coast Hotel before the plan was announced), and retirements soon let Roosevelt appoint new justices. The Court has had nine seats since 1869.