Federal Preemption: A Legal Primer

Once again, Trump is in the news for purporting to preempt individual states' regulation of so-called AI by means of executive order.

Russia was (is) perhaps ruled by ukase, but the USA doesn't work by fiat.

Congress legislates, and once its bills are signed by the president, only then do they have the force of law. (Save when Congress overrides a veto, of course.) Those laws may expressly or impliedly preempt state laws.

The term is preemption, and it doesn't occur simply because the president so orders.

As there appears to be some confusion on the matter, both in periodicals and, apparently, the highest levels of government, I thought that this excellent primer would be of interest to those who live outside the United States, and those who live inside it but might wish to hone their knowledge of civics.