Advancing American Freedom led a coalition of four other amici in filing an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in National Small Business United v. Bessent, a case challenging Big Brother’s Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) that requires owners of almost all corporations registered in the states to report their personal information to the federal government to be collected in a massive database.
The CTA and other expansive government lists expose Americans’ sensitive information to hacking and abuse from sinister actors. Even worse, the CTA is beyond the constitutional power of Congress to enact.
To safeguard our liberties, the Constitution establishes a government of limited, enumerated powers. Neither the Commerce Clause nor any other constitutional provision empowers Congress to enact the CTA. The original meaning of the Commerce Clause is clear: commerce meant trade and among the states meant—well—among the states. Congress has no Commerce Clause authority to regulate noncommercial activity like mere incorporation.
“Though the Framers could not have conceived of the ‘technological terror’ of a database such as the Corporate Transparency Act, they presciently limited the federal government’s power to protect the people’s liberty,” said AAF General Counsel J. Marc Wheat. “Because the CTA does not regulate ‘trade among the states,’ it is not a legitimate exercise of the power granted to Congress. We urge the Court to take this case and strike down the CTA.”