The Powers of Congress
Foreign Policy
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The Federal government has greater powers in
the field of foreign affairs than it does in any
other area of public policy.
Remember the 50 states are not sovereign so
they have no standing in international affairs.
The Constitution gives the President primary
responsibility for the conduct of American
foreign policy.
Even the Supreme Court ruled that he is the sole
organ of the Federal Government in the field of
international relations.
Congress and Foreign Policy
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Still the Constitution does give Congress a
significant place in foreign affairs.
This power comes from two places:
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Expressed powers among which are the spending
power, the power to regulate foreign commerce, and
the war powers
The second place is from inherent powers. This
means that: The United States is a sovereign nation
and as the lawmaking body of that nation Congress
has the right to act on matters of national security.
The War Powers
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There are 27 expressed powers set out in Article
I, Section 8 of the constitution that are given to
Congress.
6 of those deal explicitly with the subject of war
and national defense.
Remember that the Constitution makes the
President Commander and Chief of the Armed
forces so Congress shares the power but this
field is dominated by the President.
The War Powers
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Even though the President dominates the
decision making concerning the armed forces
Congress still has substantial and extensive
powers.
Congress can do the following:
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Only Congress can declare war
It alone can raise and support an army, and navy as
well as maintain them. (The House controls the
funding for Congress and can pull funding from the
armed forces.)
Congress also has the power to provide for “calling
forth the Militia.” How does this apply today?
The Power to Tax
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In 2009 the Federal government took in 2.2 trillion dollars in
revenue.
95% of that revenue came from taxes levied by Congress.
Congress does have limitations on taxing
Congress can’t tax Church services or lay a poll tax.
The Constitution also states that Congress can only tax for public
purposes. Tax dollars can’t go to private sector things.
Congress can’t tax exports.
Any direct Tax has to be representative of the population.
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A direct Tax would be a tax that you personally pay directly to the
Federal Government. (Income Tax.)
All other Taxes are indirect. This means that the Tobacco company is
taxed on Cigarettes and they turn around and charge the people who
buy them extra to cover the tax. (Sales Tax)
Borrowing Power
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Congress has the sole power to Borrow money.
There are no Constitutional limits on the amount of money Congress
can borrow and no restrictions on what they borrow it for.
The Treasury does the actual borrowing.
 The Treasury issues Treasury notes (T-notes) for short term
borrowing and bonds for long term.
These are in effect IOU’s sent out on the credit of the United States.
Congress does have a debt ceiling. This is a limit on the amount of
public debt that can be borrowed.
This is just a political gesture though.
 Congress usually just votes to raise the ceiling when the debt
threatens to overtake it.
 http://video.foxnews.com/v/1834929539001/moody-putspressure-on-congress-for-debt-deal
Origins of the Debt
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Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President that
started deficit spending.
It was the height of the Great Depression and
everyone wanted a solution.
Roosevelt began the idea of deficit spending.
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Spending more than you take in.
He took the United States off the Gold Standard
and encouraged Congress to spend more than it
took in each year and borrow to make up the
difference.
The Bankruptcy Power
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A bankrupt individual or company is one a
federal court has found to be insolvent.
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Bankruptcy is the legal proceeding in which the
bankrupt’s assets, however much or little, are
distributed among those people or companies to
whom he owes a debt.
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This means that they are unable to pay their loans or
debts.
After that all debts are forgiven.
The States and the Federal Government share
power in this matter but Bankruptcy law today
all but excludes the States.
The Currency Power
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The Constitution gives congress the sole power
to coin (print) money and regulate the monetary
system of the United States.
Before the Revolution the Schilling and the
Pound from Britain were the currency used in
the Country.
After the Revolution the continental congress
and the first Congress under the Articles issued
paper money but with no backing.
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This essentially made the money worthless because
each state was also printing their money and didn’t
honor the money from any other states.
Currency
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All the framers agreed on the need for a single
national currency.
The put together a single hard currency and
barred the states from printing their own money.
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What gave the money it’s value early on was
that all money was backed by gold and silver.
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The official paper currency wasn’t issued until 1862
and it is what we have in effect today.
You could take one dollar to the bank and trade it in
for one dollar worth of gold.
Today we are no longer on the gold standard.
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Nothing backs the dollar.
Domestic Powers
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Congress has several domestic powers:
Judicial power
Congress can form any federal court it deems
necessary below the Supreme Court
Congress sets standards for weights and
measures
Congress has the power to acquire, manage,
and dispose of various federal areas like
territories.
Impeachment
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This is a non-legislative power because it is a power
given to Congress in the constitution but does not
concern any type of legislation.
The Constitution provides that the President,
Vice President, and all civil officers of the United
States may “be removed from office on
Impeachment for, and Conviction of Treason,
Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Now it is obvious that the framers meant serious
crimes but none the less this has been used for
political means.
Impeachment
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The House alone has the power to level
charges of crimes against the President.
At the same time the Senate alone has the
power to put the President on trial.
To date no President has ever been voted
out of office but several have come close.
Can you name one?
Richard Nixon
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Richard Nixon probably would’ve been the first President
to be impeached.
However he resigned.
Nixon was on trial because several of his aids broke into
the Democratic National Headquarters during election
season in 1972.
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They broke in to see what information the Democrats had on the
President.
They were caught and evidence mounted against Nixon
including several missing minutes on the tapes that recorded
everything Nixon did in the Oval Office during his Presidency.
Instead of standing trial in the Senate Nixon resigned
and was then pardoned by Vice President, now
President, Gerald Ford.
More Non-legislative powers
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Again this means powers that don’t have
anything to do with legislation.
Congress has several electoral duties.
If the electoral college produces a tie or a
situation where no candidate reaches the 270
vote mark each member of the House casts one
voter for the President.
Similarly the Senate chooses the Vice President.
This has only ever happened twice for the
President and once for Vice President.
Appointments
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This is another non-legislative power.
All major appointments by the President are
approved by congress.
Each appointment is referred to the correct
committee of the Senate and each committee
chooses rather or not to approve the
appointment.
Only 12 of more than 600 appointments made
by the President have actually been rejected.
More often than not nominations are approved
or the President withdraws them if they feel
Congress won’t accept them.
The Power to Investigate
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This is another non-legislative power.
Congress has the power to investigate any
matter that falls within the scope of its
lawmaking authority.
Either House of Congress can investigate a
number of things for a number of reasons.
Usually it is done to gather information for
legislation or most of the time to oversee the
operations of various agencies in the executive
branch.
The Necessary and Proper Clause
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Remember this clause in Article I Section 8 of
the Constitution says:
Congress has the expressed power to make all
Laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the foregoing powers,
and all other powers vested by this Constitution
in the Government of the United States, or in
any department or officer thereof.
Basically Congress has an open door to make
laws necessary for running the government.
(Implied Powers)
Things to Remember
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While the President is the spearhead of American foreign policy
Congress has certain powers here.
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Congress has the power to:
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Congress can declare war and regulate foreign trade and commerce.
Tax and the majority of revenue to the Government is in the form of
taxes.
Congress may only tax for public sector benefit.
Only Congress can coin money and regulate monetary policy.
Only Congress may Impeach the President or other members of the
executive branch.
Congress has the ability to investigate any matter that falls within the
scope of it’s law making abilities.
The Necessary and Proper Clause says that Congress has the power
to make all laws necessary and Proper for running the Federal
Government.