I realize this is only one statement by one founder. But if James Madison’s most famous defense of the earliest alleged act of state nullification expressly denies, or at minimum equivocates about whether, there is a literal power of nullification in states, then I would need to see pretty compelling evidence of original meaning to the contrary. And recall that no other state supported the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions. Indeed, Madison’s report was written to respond to criticisms lodged against the effort.