incidental decision

Noting that "the debates and incidental decisions of the Convention can have no authoritative character" for interpreting the Constitution, he effectively testified to his reverence for the text.

"As a guide in expounding and applying the provisions of the Constitution," wrote Madison, the document's primary author, "the debates and incidental decisions of the Convention can have no authoritative character."

Senator Wyden's curb on the program slid through the Senate with no overt opposition, and among the House-Senate negotiators it has found no vocal opposition, either, making it an almost incidental decision in a conference fighting over billions of dollars for thousands of programs.

Madison himself believed not only that 'The Federalist' Papers were not a direct expression of the ideas of the Founders, but that those ideas themselves, and the "debates and incidental decisions of the Convention," should not be viewed as having any "authoritative character."