An urgent constitutional question: Can the government regulate toilet seats?

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a constitutional lawyer recently elected to Congress, says toilet seats are an intimate example of federal overreach.

He name-dropped the familiar fixtures in his March 16, 2013, speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC.

“We have a federal government that thinks they have the authority to regulate our toilet seats,” he said.

Does the long arm of the law extend into your bathroom?

We set out to fact-check the claim, but we also found deep philosophical divisions on the constitutional issues at work. Read our report for the full story.  We rated Cruz’s statement True.