Interstate Professional Licensing Compacts Create Unaccountable Shadow Governments
Source: Suzannah Alexander. "Interstate Licensing Agreements Become Shadow Governments." April 29, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that states are creating special agreements for professional licenses that hand power to private organizations and unelected boards. These groups can then force professionals to follow certain rules or beliefs to keep their jobs, but voters have no way to change or challenge these requirements.
Conclusion
Interstate professional licensing compacts are creating unaccountable governmental structures that impose rule without consent, undermining the constitutional social contract
Premises
- Professional licensing compacts delegate rulemaking authority to private industry bodies that create binding codes of ethics and standards
- These compacts create 'supra-state sub-federal government entities' with governmental powers but without electoral accountability
- Private bodies like the National Board for Certified Counselors can impose ideological requirements on professionals through required exams and codes
- Compact-created entities are exempt from Freedom of Information requests yet have powers to set fees, accept donations, and invoke emergency powers
- Once enacted, these compacts are extremely difficult to undo and don't sunset, creating permanent unaccountable structures
- The same constitutional loophole being exploited by the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is being used to bypass normal democratic processes
- Federal funding through the Department of Defense is accelerating the creation of new licensing compacts across professions
Assumptions
- The constitutional social contract requires consent of the governed for legitimate rule
- Private industry bodies will impose ideological requirements that conflict with individual beliefs
- Interstate compacts are being used beyond their intended constitutional purpose
- Professional licensing should be subject to democratic accountability and oversight
- The framers' restrictions on interstate compacts were designed to prevent exactly this type of governance structure