Phil Kerpen v. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Summary

The Fourth Circuit held that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is not a federal instrumentality under *Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation* because it was created by an interstate compact between Virginia and the District of Columbia, not by the federal government, and the federal government appoints only a minority of its board members. Consequently, the court rejected Appointments Clause, non-delegation, and Administrative Procedure Act claims, as MWAA exercises state rather than federal power. The court also dismissed a Guarantee Clause challenge, finding MWAA does not deny any state a republican form of government, and upheld MWAA’s use of toll revenues to fund the Silver Line metro extension to Dulles Airport as a permissible airport-purpose expenditure under the Transfer Act and Lease, deferring to the Secretary of Transportation’s reasonable interpretation.

Holdings

1. MWAA is not a federal instrumentality because it was not created by the federal government and is not controlled by the federal government.
2. MWAA does not violate the non-delegation principle because it exercises no power delegated by Congress (it is a state-created entity), and even if it did, it is a public body and the Transfer Act provides an intelligible principle.
3. MWAA does not violate the Guarantee Clause because it does not deny any state a republican form of government.
4. The expenditures are permissible because the Secretary of Transportation certified them as compliant, and the interpretation is reasonable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether MWAA is a federal instrumentality under Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
2. Whether MWAA's structure violates the non-delegation principle regarding legislative, governmental, or federal power.
3. Whether MWAA violates the Guarantee Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
4. Whether MWAA's use of toll road funds to build the Silver Line metro violates the Transfer Act and the Lease.

Disposition

affirmed