Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co v Sawyer

Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co v Sawyer, also known as the Steel Seizure Case, is a 1952 decision of the United States Supreme Court that limited claims of inherent presidential power. During the Korean War, President Harry Truman ordered the Secretary of Commerce, Charles Sawyer, to seize and operate the countrys steel mills to prevent a labor strike he believed would harm the war effort, without any specific authorization from Congress. The Court held that the seizure exceeded the Presidents constitutional authority because neither an act of Congress nor the Constitution itself gave him this power, rejecting the argument that his role as commander in chief or general executive authority alone was sufficient. Justice Robert Jacksons concurring opinion, setting out a three-tiered framework for judging presidential action against congressional authorization, became one of the most influential statements on separation of powers in American constitutional law.