Criticism of the New Deal also emerged from the political right. Conservative opponents argued that the government's interventions undermined free-market principles and decreased individual liberty. They contended that the New Deal expanded the power of the federal government beyond its constitutional limits and created a culture of dependency on government support.

For instance, the Supreme Court declared some New Deal laws, such as the National Industrial Recovery Act, unconstitutional, claiming that they infringed upon states' rights and violated the separation of powers. Moreover, some business leaders and economists, like the Austrian School economist Friedrich Hayek, argued that the New Deal policies distorted market signals and hindered economic recovery.