Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer case brief

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer case brief summary

343 U.S. 579 (1952)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Certiorari was granted to review a judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court of appeals had stayed a district court's injunction against the government, restraining the government's continued seizure and possession of the steel mills owned by the various steel companies.

CASE FACTS
On the eve of a strike against certain steel companies, an executive order was issued directing the Secretary of Commerce to take possession of most of the nation's steel mills. The steel companies obeyed the orders but brought proceedings against the government, charging that the seizure was not authorized by an act of Congress or by any constitutional provision. The district court granted a preliminary injunction restraining the government's continued seizure and possession of the mills, and the court of appeals stayed the injunction.

DISCUSSION

• Certiorari was granted. 
• The Court found that a final determination of the constitutionality of the order was proper. 
• The Court held that the presidential power exerted here could not be sustained as an exercise of the President's military power nor under the several constitutional provisions that granted executive power. 
• The seizure could not stand because Congress had the exclusive constitutional authority to make laws necessary and proper to carry out the powers vested by the Constitution. 
• Accordingly, the district court's judgment was affirmed.

CONCLUSION

The Court affirmed the district court's judgment imposing an injunction restraining the government's continued seizure of the steel mills. The Court held that the presidential order directing the government to take possession of the plants was not within the President's constitutional authority.