Powers Granted to Congress
• 1. Revenue
• Taxes must be levied at the same rate
throughout the nation.
• 2. Borrowing
• The federal government borrows money by
issuing bonds or credit on the United States.
(Deficit Spending)
• 3. Commerce
• Congress regulates foreign and interstate
commerce.
• 4. Naturalization and Bankruptcy
• Naturalization refers to the procedure by
which a citizen of a foreign nation
becomes a citizen of the United States as
well as imposing uniform laws for
bankruptcy in the United States.
• 5. Currency
• Control over currency is exclusively reserved
for the federal government.
• 6. Counterfeiting
• Congress shall have the authority to issue
penalties for the forging of American currency.
• 7. Post Office
• Congress is given the sole authority to
establish post offices and post roads.
• 8. Copyrights and Patents
• Congress has the right to pass copyrights and
patents laws.
• 9. Courts
• Congress may establish a federal court
system inferior to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• 10. Piracy
• Congress protects American ships on the high
seas.
• 11. Declare War
• Congress has the sole authority to declare war
but may pass resolutions granting the power to
wage war to the President.
• 12. Army
• 13. Navy
• 14. Rules for the Armed Forces
• Congress may pass regulations that deal
with military discipline.
• 15. Militia
• The Militia is now called the National Guard
which is organized by the States.
• 16. National Guard
• Congress has the right to pass laws governing
the National Guard’s behavior.
• 17. Nation’s Capital
• This clause gives Congress the right to make
laws for Washington, D.C. and to create our
federal city.
• 18. Elastic Clause
• This is the so-called Elastic clause of the
Constitution. The necessary and proper laws
must be related to one of the 17 enumerated or
stated powers.
Powers Denied to the Federal
Government
• 1. Slave Trade
• Congress could not ban the slave trade before
1808.
• 2. Habeas Corpus
• A writ of habeas corpus requires a law official
to bring a prisoner to court and show cause for
holding the prisoner. The writ may be
suspended only during wartime.
• 3. Bills of Attainder
• Congress cannot pass any bill of attainder or
ex post facto laws. A bill of attainder is a bill
that punishes a person without a jury trial and
an ex post facto law is a law that makes an act
a crime after the act has been committed.
• 4. Direct Taxes
• Congress was initially forbid from collected
taxes directly from Americans. However,
the 16th Amendment gave Congress the
ability to pass an income tax.
• 5. Tax on Exports
• Congress may not tax goods that move from
one state to another.
• 6. Uniformity of Treatment
• Congress may not favor one state or region
over another. However, since all money bills
must originate in the House of
Representatives, it is possible for this to
happen if a large state or geographic region
can get together on an issue.
• 7. Appropriation Law
• All of the President’s expenditures must
be made with the permission of Congress.
• 8. Titles of Nobility
• This clause prevents the development of a
nobility in the United States.