Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which grants Congress the power to 'regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.' It has become one of the most expansive sources of federal regulatory power.
From Latin 'commercium' (trade or business dealings). Originally intended to prevent trade wars between states, the clause has been interpreted broadly since the New Deal era to cover virtually any economic activity.
The Commerce Clause went from preventing states from taxing each other's goods to justifying federal regulation of a farmer's wheat grown for his own consumption—the Supreme Court ruled in Wickard v. Filburn (1942) that even personal wheat affects interstate commerce, making this clause the constitutional Swiss Army knife of federal power!
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