Whether the delegation of federal power to an unaccountable interstate compact violates the separation of powers and the Guarantee Clause

QUESTIONS PRESENTED Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (“MWAA’”) is an “independent” entity created by interstate compact that exercises delegated authority from Congress over three federally owned assets, each worth billions of dollars: Reagan and Dulles Airports and the Dulles Toll Road. By law and by design, it is not accountable to the federal government or to elected officials in D.C. or Virginia. Petitioners sued, explaining that MWAA’s unaccountable delegated authority violates the separation of powers required by Articles I and II and violates the Guarantee Clause. The Fourth Circuit held that constraints do not apply to a congressional delegation of power that is not “inherently” federal or that is made to an interstate compact entity or other “public body,” and that the Guarantee Clause does not apply. The questions presented are: 1. Is power exercised by a government agency over federal property, pursuant to federal statute, properly considered “federal power” for purposes of Articles I and II of the Constitution, even where the exercised power is not “inherently” federal or a “core” federal power? 2. Can Congress delegate to interstate compacts and other instrumentalities of state or local governments powers that could not constitutionally be delegated to private entities? 3. Does a statute bestowing government power— however characterized—on an unelected entity and making it “independent” of any elected official or body violate the Guarantee Clause?