Is the Federal Minimum Wage Unconstitutional?

The popularity of the Tea Party during the 2010 Election represents a growing movement toward a stricter construction of the U.S. Constitution and a more limited federal government. Relying on this ideology, several candidates questioned the constitutionality of some of the most entrenched federal legislation, including the federal minimum wage. Senate candidates Joe Miller of Alaska and John Raese of West Virginia both argued that the federal minimum wage prescribed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 violates the Tenth Amendment and usurps rights granted exclusively to the States. Although both candidates ultimately lost in the general election, the popularity of the Tea Party may lead to new challenges not only to whether Congress should establish a federally-mandated minimum wage, but also whether Congress has the constitutional authority to do so.