The Forgotten Rule That Could Save America

The One Constitutional Rule That Could Rein In Washington’s Madness

There are two kinds of power in America: the kind that’s spelled out in the Constitution, and the kind that grows like mold in the dark; unseen, unauthorized, and unstoppable unless someone scrapes it off. Guess which kind Washington prefers?

The Founders gave us a brilliant system based “Enumerated Powers”. That means the federal government was only supposed to do a very narrow list of things. Defense? Yes. Foreign treaties? Sure. Regulate commerce between the states? OK, fine. But that’s about it. Everything else? Left to the states or the people, as made crystal clear in the 10th Amendment. The states can do what they need to. The feds can’t—unless it’s specifically authorized. That’s the rule. Or at least, it was.

Today, Washington funds your schools, polices your thoughts, dictates your thermostat settings, and thinks it can borrow money against the economy you built as if it owns the place. And the worst part? They believe they have the right to do it.

Michael Michael Farris, seasoned constitutional lawyer and co-founder of Convention of States put it bluntly in his January 2026 address in Idaho: “Can the states spend money on education? Yes. Can the feds? No.” That’s it. Game over. One sentence cuts through two centuries of legalistic nonsense. If a power isn’t enumerated, it doesn’t exist. The feds are out of bounds.

But let’s be real, Washington isn’t just stepping over the line. It’s demolishing the whole field. It took COVID as an excuse to go berserk, spending $7 trillion in a single year and never looking back. We now spend more on the interest on the debt than on national defense. The second-highest budget item in America is money we owe because we let politicians treat our tax dollars like Monopoly cash.

You don’t fix that by electing “better people.” Farris again: “One party wants to drive off the cliff at 182 miles per hour, the other at 178.” Not much of a choice…

The answer isn’t in Congress. It’s in the states. It always was. Article V of the Constitution gives state legislatures the power to “propose” amendments, the power to rein in federal abuse when D.C. refuses to police itself. That’s not a loophole. It’s not radical. It was designed by the very people who built the Constitution to begin with. George Mason demanded it. The other Founders agreed. Because they knew what human nature with unchecked power does.

And here’s the kicker the Founders would’ve actually used: It is not radical to demand that the federal government obey its own rulebook. What’s radical is pretending that the rulebook doesn’t exist.

You want to fix Washington? Here’s a test:

1. Show me the clause in Article I, Section 8 that says Congress can run your local school board.

2. Point to the paragraph that lets them fund social programs, healthcare schemes, and economic bailouts.

3. Cite the section that authorizes the EPA to control your gas stove or the Department of Education to rewrite your history textbooks.

You can’t. Because it’s not there.

That’s not just a technical oversight. That’s a betrayal of the constitutional order. And the longer we tolerate it, the harder the crash will be. According to Farris’s math, by 2031 we’ll be at $55 trillion in national debt. By 2039, over $100 trillion. At some point, every single dollar we send to Washington will go toward interest payments alone. The house is on fire, and we’re still arguing about which extinguisher to use.

So what do we do? We remember who holds the leash.

The states created the federal government, not the other way around. It’s time the states act like it. Not just by permitting symbolic resolutions, but by invoking their constitutional authority through an Article V convention. Rein in the scope of federal spending. Force a balanced budget. Define, clearly and forever, what Washington can and cannot do.

This is not a time for spectatorship. It’s a time for serious backbone. If you’re a legislator sitting on your hands, ask yourself what you’ll say when the country collapses and your constituents ask what you did to stop it. And if you’re a citizen, remember this: silence isn’t neutrality, it’s complicity. (yea, harsh but so very true, and the truth hurts at times like these)

Enumerated powers. States can. Feds can’t. That was the deal. It’s still the deal. But only if we make it so.

Ken Whaley ~ Restore First Principles

If you appreciate Restore First Principles posts, please consider giving them a like. It’s a simple gesture that costs you nothing but goes a long way in promoting this Stack.

You can also stay engaged and spread the word by following Restore First Principles on YouTube & Facebook.