Opinion of Thomas, J.
mate” under our constitutional structure. McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 421 (1819).
But even if the objective of a law is carrying into execution one of the Federal Government's enumerated powers, the law must be both necessary and proper to that objective. The “Clause is not a warrant to Congress to enact any law that bears some conceivable connection to the exercise of an enumerated power.” Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U. S. 1, 60 (2005) (Thomas, J., dissenting). Instead, “there must be a necessary and proper fit between the `means' (the federal law) and the `end' (the enumerated power or powers) it is designed to serve.” Comstock, 560 U. S., at 160 (Thomas, J., dissenting). The “means” chosen by Congress “will be deemed `necessary' if they are `appropriate' and `plainly adapted' to the exercise of an enumerated power, and `proper' if they are not otherwise `prohibited' by the Constitution and not `[in]consistent' with its `letter and spirit.' ” Id., at 160–161 (alteration in original).
The argument that § 214(d), as applied to passports, could be an exercise of Congress' power to carry into execution its foreign commerce or naturalization powers falters because this aspect of § 214(d) is directed at neither of the ends served by these powers. Although at a high level of generality, a passport could be related to foreign commerce and naturalization, that attenuated relationship is insufficient. The law in question must be “directly link[ed]” to the enumerated power. Id., at 169, n. 8. As applied to passports, § 214(d) fails that test because it does not “ `carr[y] into Execution' ” Congress' foreign commerce or naturalization powers. Id., at 160. At most, it bears a tertiary relationship to an activity Congress is permitted to regulate: It directs the President's formulation of a document, which, in turn, may be used to facilitate travel, which, in turn, may facilitate foreign commerce. And the distinctive history of the passport as a travel rather than citizenship document makes its connection to naturalization even more tenuous.
