Unit Three: The Congressional Branch

United States Government and Politics

Spring 2015

POWERS OF CONGRESS

ENUMERATED POWERSArticle I, Section 8, Clauses 1-18 of the United States Constitution

ENUMERATED POWERS• Clause One: Lay and collect taxes (for defense and general welfare)

• Clause Two: Borrow money

• Clause Three: Regulate foreign and interstate commerce

• Clause Four: Establish bankruptcy laws

• Clause Five: Coin, print, and regulate money

• Clause Six: Punish people who produce counterfeit American currency

• Clause Seven: Establish a post office and post roads

• Clause Eight: Grant copyright and patents

• Clause Nine: Create lower federal courts

ENUMERATED POWERS• Clause Ten: Punish acts committed on international waters and against the laws of

nations

• Clause Eleven: Declare War

• Clauses Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen: Raise, support, and regulate an army and navy

• Clauses Fifteen and Sixteen: Provide, regulate, and call into service a militia (known as the National Guard)

• Clause Seventeen: Govern Washington D.C.

• Clause Eighteen: “Necessary and Proper Clause” – “The Elastic Clause”

• Provide for laws necessary and proper for carrying out all listed powers

ENUMERATED POWERS (NOT CLAUSE-SPECIFIC)• Foreign Policy Powers

• Power to approve treaties, declare war, make rules governing land and naval forces, create and maintain an army and navy, and regulate foreign commerce

• Congress shares foreign policy and national defense policy powers with the president and usually allows the president to take leadership in this area

• Provide for Nation’s Growth

• Power to govern naturalization process, admit new states, and pass laws needed to govern territories

• Power to govern federal property (military bases, government buildings, national parks, historic sites, and public lands)

ENUMERATED POWER (NON-LEGISLATIVE)• Power to choose a president

• Joint Session of Congress meets to count Electoral College votes

• If no candidate wins a majority of the votes…

• House chooses president from three candidates with the most votes; each state gets one vote

• Senate chooses vice president from two candidates by majority vote

• Removal power

• Impeachment of any federal official from office

• Exclusive power given to House – majority vote

• Senators conduct the trial – 2/3 vote required to convict and remove an official

• If the president is on trial the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court oversees the case

ENUMERATED POWERS (NON-LEGISLATIVE)• Confirmation Power

• Senate must approve presidential appointments

• Ratification Power

• Senate approves treaties between the United States and other nations by 2/3 vote

• Amendment Power

• Shared with state legislatures

IMPLIED POWERSNecessary and Proper Clause

IMPLIED POWERS• Power to lay and collect taxes

• Power to support public schools, welfare programs, public housing, et cetera

• Power to borrow money

• Power to maintain the Federal Reserve Board

• Power to regulate commerce

• Power to prohibit discrimination in restaurants, hotels, and other public accommodations

• Power to raise and support an army

• Power to draft people into the armed services

• Power to establish laws of naturalization

• Power to limit the number of immigrants to the United States