Exclusive federal powers are powers within a federal system of government that each constituent political unit (such as a state or province) is absolutely or conditionally prohibited from exercising.Scardino, Frank.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to U.S. Government and Politics
', p. 31 (Penguin 2009). That is, either a constituent political unit may never exercise these powers, or may only do so with the consent of the federal government. These powers are contrasted with

concurrent powers Concurrent powers are powers of a federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal governm ...

, which are shared by both the federal government and each constituent political unit.

United States

According to U.S. law,

reserved powers Reserved powers, residual powers, or residuary powers are the powers that are neither prohibited nor explicitly given by law to any organ of government. Such powers, as well as general power of competence, are given because it is impractical to d ...

(i.e. states' rights) belong exclusively to each state. They are distinct from the

enumerated powers The enumerated powers (also called expressed powers, explicit powers or delegated powers) of the United States Congress are the powers granted to the federal government of the United States by the United States Constitution. Most of these powers ar ...

that are listed in the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nati ...

, which include both concurrent powers and exclusive federal powers. In Federalist No. 32,

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charle ...

described three distinct types of exclusive federal powers:Hamilton, Alexander.
Federalist 32
(full text) from the Library of Congress.

This exclusive delegation, or rather this alienation, of State sovereignty, would only exist in three cases: where the Constitution in express terms granted an exclusive authority to the Union; iwhere it granted in one instance an authority to the Union, and in another prohibited the States from exercising the like authority; and iiwhere it granted an authority to the Union, to which a similar authority in the States would be absolutely and totally contradictory and repugnant.

Examples

* The Constitution grants Congress power of "exclusive legislation" over the area now known as the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

. * The Constitution says: "no state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except for the purpose of executing its inspection laws." * The Constitution gives Congress power to establish a "uniform rule" of

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

throughout the country, and Hamilton says that there could be no uniform rule if each state has a distinct rule.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prohibited Powers Federalism Constitutional law States' rights