When the cases in volume 301 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members: In National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, 301 U.S. 1 (1937) the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, ruling that Congress could regulate economic activities that were "intrastate in character when separately considered" if they held "such a close and substantial relation to interstate commerce that their control is essential or appropriate to protect that commerce from burdens and obstructions."
United States v. Belmont, 301 U.S. 324 (1937), was a dispute between the federal executive branch and the State of New York over property rights to a deposit from a former Russian corporation with August Belmont & Company, a private New York City banking firm.
In Belmont the Supreme Court established executive predominance over state laws and constitutions in the sphere of foreign policy, and allocated the constitutional power for initiating executive agreements solely to the president of the United States.
In Steward Machine Company v. Davis, 301 U.S. 548 (1937), the Supreme Court upheld the unemployment compensation provisions of the Social Security Act of 1935, which established the federal taxing structure that was designed to induce states to adopt laws for funding and payment of unemployment compensation.
The decision showed the Court's acceptance of a broad interpretation of Congressional power to influence state laws.