American Citizenship
Chapter 11 Notes
Powers of Congress
Section 1

The Scope of Congressional Powers
Congressional Power
Congress only has the powers
delegated to it by the Constitution

–
Cannot do:






create national public school system
require people to vote or attend church
set a minimum age for marriage or driver’s
license
abolish jury trials
confiscate all hand-guns
etc.
Congressional Power (Con’t)
Congress only has the powers delegated to
it by the Constitution (Con’t)

–
Can do:

Expressed Powers
–

Implied Powers
–

Things said specifically in the Constitution
One can reasonably deduce the power from expressed
powers
Inherent Powers
Strict Versus Liberal
Construction
Originally, the split over the federalist and
anti-federalist was about the powers of
Congress

–
Strict Constructionist



–
Led by Thomas Jefferson and believed that
Congress should only do expressed powers and only
important implied powers
“That government is best which governs least”
wanted the States to keep as much power as
possible
Liberal Constructionists

Led by Alexander Hamilton and believed that
Congress should have a great deal of power
Strict Versus Liberal
Construction (Con’t)
More often than not, the American
people have agreed with more
government, as opposed to less
government

–
Also known as a consensus

general agreement
Section 2

The Expressed Powers of Money and
Commerce
The Power to Tax
The Constitution gives congress the right
“to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts
and excises…” Article 1 Section 8 Clause
1
The Purpose of Taxes


–
A tax is a charge levied by government on
persons or property to meet public needs

However, import taxes protect domestic industry
against foreign competition
The Power to Tax (Con’t)
Limits on the Taxing Power

–
–
–
Congress may tax only for public purposes,
not private benefit
Congress can not tax exports
Direct taxes must be apportioned among
the states

–
A tax that must be paid by the person whom it is
imposed
All indirect taxes must be levied at the
same rate in all parts of the country

A tax first paid by one person but then passed
on to another
Borrowing Power
There are no restriction on the amount of
money that Congress can borrow
For decades the U.S. Federal Government has
practiced deficit financing


–
Regularly spending more than it takes in each year,
and borrowing to make up the difference
The public debt has grown rapidly since 1969

–
All of the money borrowed by the government over
the years, not yet repaid, plus the accumulated
interest on that money
The Commerce Power
Power of Congress to regulate interstate and
foreign trade

–
Originally a major weakness of the Article of
Confederation
Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824

–
Arose out of a clash over the regulation of
steamboats by the State of New York
Court’s decision expanded the interpretation of the
term “Commerce”
–

The Court’s and Congress have defined more implied
powers over the years
The Commerce Power (Con’t)
Limits on the Commerce Power

–
–
–
–
Cannot tax exports
Cannot favor the ports of one state over
those of any other in the regulation of trade
Cannot require that “vessels” pay taxes
when entering or exiting states
Could not interfere with the slave trade
The Currency Power
Due to the confusion after the Revolutionary
War, the framers of the Constitution called for
a single, national system of “hard” money

–
Since 1789 Congress has provided the nation with a
uniform, stable monetary system
Congress created the first Bank of the United
States in 1791 and they created paper money

–
However they were not legal tender

–
any kind of money that a creditor must by law accept in
payment for debts
By 1861 the paper money was legal tender
The Bankruptcy Power
Bankrupt individual or company or other
organization is one a court has found to
be unable to pay debts in full
Bankruptcy


–
Is the legal proceeding in which the
bankrupts’ assets are distributed among
those to whom a debt is owed
Section 3

Other Expressed Powers
Foreign Relations Powers
Congress shares power in this field with
the President

–
States are not allowed to take part in
foreign relations because they are not
sovereign
Receives these powers from two sources

–
–
Expressed powers, such as war powers and
regulate foreign commerce
Implied by being the Legislative Branch

lawmaking body
War Powers


–
–
–
–
–

The Constitution makes the President the
Commander in Chief, however Congress has
strong war powers as well
Congress has the ability to:
Declare war
Raise and support armies
Provide and maintain a navy
Make rules pertaining to the governing of land and
naval forces
Etc.
Passage of the War Powers Resolution of
1973, congress can restrict the use of
American forces in combat in areas where a
state of war does not exist
Other Expressed Powers
Naturalization

–
The process by which citizens of one
country become citizens of another
Postal Power

–
Congress has the power “to establish Post
Offices and post Roads.” Article 1, Section
8, Article 7


Federal law to obstruct the mails
States can not tax the Postal Service
Other Expressed Powers
(Con’t)
Copyrights and Patents

–
–
Copyrights and Patents are determined by
the Legislative Branch
Copyright


the exclusive rights of an author to reproduce,
publish, and sell his or her creative work
Currently they are registered by the Library of
Congress and last the lifetime of the author and
70 years afterwards
Other Expressed Powers
(Con’t)

Copyrights and Patents (Con’t)
– Patent
 grants a person the sole right to manufacture, use
or sell “any new and useful art, machine,
manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new
useful improvement there of”
 Good for 20 years
– Enforced through the Department of
Commerce
Other Expressed Powers
(Con’t)
Weights and Measures

–
Power to “fix the stands of weights and
measures” Article 1, Section 8, Clause 5
Power Over Territories and Other Areas

–
–
Power to acquire, manage and dispose of
various federal areas
Congress may acquire the territories
through purchase, gift or eminent domain

inherent power to take private property for
public use
Other Expressed Powers
(Con’t)
Judicial Powers

–
–
Expressed power to create all the courts
below the Supreme Court
Right to define federal crimes and set
punishments for violators of federal law
Section 4

The Implied Powers
The Necessary and Proper
Clause
Congress appropriates money to many
programs not called for in the Constitution

–
–
Assigns to a particular use
This is called implied powers
“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” Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18

–
This clause has been used to expand the power of
Congress to “Implied Powers”
The Battle Over Implied
Powers
Began with Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary
of Treasury, helped Congress set up a national
bank

–
Opponents of this action stated that it was not an
expressed power for Congress
McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819

–
Congress had created the Second Bank of the
United States in Maryland
Maryland began taxing the bank, as a form of
checks and balance
–

Maryland took a strict constructionist view on the issue
The Battle Over Implied
Powers (Con’t)
McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819 (Con’t)

–
The Supreme Court unanimously held that
the Constitution need not expressly
empower Congress to create a bank


Chief Justice John Marshall used the “necessary
and proper clause” to meet the expressed power
over commerce
Also reinforced Judicial Review as well
The Doctrine in Practice

–
A principle or fundamental policy
Section 5

The Nonlegislative Powers
Constitutional Amendments
Congress may propose amendments by
a two-thirds vote in each house

–
Done 33 times
Also call a national convention of
delegates

–
Never been done
Electoral Duties
House of Representatives may be called on to
elect a President

–
Only if no candidate receives a majority of the
electoral votes

Done in 1801 with Thomas Jefferson and 1825 with John
Quincy Adams
Also, 25th Amendment provides for the filling
of a vacancy in the vice presidency

–
–
President nominates a successor
Majority vote in both house of Congress confirms
nominee
Impeachment
The House has the sole power to
impeach

–
To accuse, bring charges
Senate has sole power to try, judge, in
impeachment cases
Impeachment requires only a majority
vote in the House; conviction requires a
two-thirds vote in the Senate


–
Penalty for conviction is removal from office
Impeachment (Con’t)
Andrew Johnson

–
Became president after the death of Abraham
Lincoln
Violated the Tenure of Office Act and was
impeached by the House
–

However acquitted by the Senate
–
found not guilty
Bill Clinton

–
Impeached by the House on an account of perjury
and obstruction of justice


lying under oath and withholding information
Also acquitted by the Senate
Impeachment (Con’t)
Richard Nixon

–
In June 1972, Republic operatives
attempted to break into the Democratic
Party’s national headquarters in Watergate
Complex in D.C.

–
Thus the term Watergate
The probe over this incident led to a long
list of illegal acts
Impeachment (Con’t)

Richard Nixon (Con’t)
– House voted to impeach Nixon and requested
a subpoena of several tape recordings from
the Oval Office
 legal order directing one to appear in court and/or
to produce certain evidence
– In light of the pending conviction, Nixon
resigned before being convicted and removed
from office
Executive Powers
Appointments

–
All major appointments made by the President must
be confirmed by the Senate by a majority vote
Treaties

–
May be accepted or rejected, amended by the
Senate


Many times the President asks advice of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee
Also, the House holds the purse strings, so many times
they are consulted in the treaty-making process
Investigatory Power
Has the Power to investigate issues

–
–
–
–
–
Gather information useful to Congress in the
making of some legislation
Oversee the operations of various executive branch
agencies
Focus public attention on a particular subject
Expose the questionable activities of public officials
or private persons
Promote the particular interests of some members
of Congress