War Powers and State Sovereign Immunity in Torres v. Texas Dep’t of Public Safety

On Dec. 15, 2021, the Supreme Court agreed to review Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety. The case is a rare instance in which the court will confront the scope of Congress’s constitutional war powers. The central question in Torres is whether Congress may authorize private citizens to sue nonconsenting state governments under its constitutional war powers. This is controversial because of state sovereign immunity, a long-standing doctrine that, subject to certain exceptions, generally prohibits private citizens from suing state governments. Specifically,