Section 3:
The Powers of Congress
pp. 126-131
Reading Focus
 Congress is the most powerful representative body in
the world.
 Main goal = make laws
 These actions affect the lives of millions of people in
the US.
 Tell us what we can and cannot do and set up
government services.
Powers Granted to Congress
 Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution lists the powers
granted to Congress.
 These are called delegated powers
 Also reserved (states) and concurrent (shared)
 Delegated powers give Congress the authority to make
laws in five areas . . .
 Financing Government:
 Congress can raise and collect taxes, borrow money, and
print and coin money.
 Uses this money to pay the debts of the US and to
provide for the country’s defense and general welfare
 Regulating and Encouraging American Trade and
Industry:
 Regulates foreign trade and among the states.
 Sets up a uniform standard of weights and measures and
by passing laws that protect the rights of inventors.
 Sets up post offices, builds roads, and sets punishments
for piracy and crimes against US ships on the seas.
 Defending the Country:
 Power to declare war, maintain an army and navy, and
provide for a citizen army (draft during wartime or
national emergencies.
 Enforcing Laws:
 Passes laws concerning crimes such as counterfeiting
and treason.
 Sets up national courts.
 Providing for Growth:
 Regulates immigration, passes naturalization laws.
 Article IV, Section 3, power to govern territories and to
provide for the admission of new states.
Implied Powers
 Congress has the power “to make all laws which shall
be necessary and proper for carrying into execution
(carrying out) the foregoing powers.”
 It is known as the elastic clause, because it allows
Congress to stretch the delegated powers listed in the
Constitution.

Congress has set up national military academics. Congress
felt this necessary to ensure the defense of the US.
 Powers that Congress claims under the elastic clause
are known as implied powers.
Power to Impeach
 The Constitution gives Congress other powers besides the
power to make laws.
 They have the power to accuse high federal officials of
serious crimes against the country. Congress can also bring
them to trial.
 This includes the Pres, VP, and federal judges. They can be
removed from office if found guilty of serious crimes, such as
treason, which is an act that betrays or endangers one’s
country.
 Charges against an official must be drawn up in the House
of Representatives
 The list of charges is read in the House
 If a majority vote in favor of the list of charges, the official
is impeached, or formally accused.
 The individual will then be put on trial
 The procedure of drawing up and passing the list of charges
in the House is called impeachment.
 The trial of impeachment charges is held in the Senate
(Senate acts as a court).
 The Vice President acts as the judge. However, if the
President is impeached, the chief justice of the Supreme
Court is the judge.
 The Senate acts as the jury (hear the evidence and examine all
witnesses).
 They then vote (guilty or innocent).
 2/3 of the Senate must find the official guilty before he/she can
be dismissed from office.
 Up until 2000, 17 federal officials have been impeached, only 7
judges have been dismissed.
 Two Presidents, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, have been
impeached.
 The threat of impeachment led President Richard Nixon to
resign in 1974.
Special Powers
 The Constitution gives each house of Congress a number of special
powers.
 The House of Representatives:
 It can alone start impeachment proceedings
 All bills for raising money must begin in the house
 If no Presidential candidate receives enough electoral votes, the
members of the House choose the president.
 The Senate:
 All impeachment trials must be held in the Senate
 If no Vice President candidate receives enough electoral votes, the
senators choose a VP.
 All treaties or written agreements with foreign nations must be
approved by 2/3 vote in the Senate.
 High officials appointed by the President, must be approved in the
Senate with a majority vote (Supreme Court Justices)
Limits on Power
 The Supreme Court has the power to decide when Congress
has overstepped the powers granted to it in the
Constitution.
 10th Amendment reserves those powers not specifically
granted to the national government for the state
governments
 This includes the states’ authority with regard to elections,
education, and marriage.
 Article I, Section 9, denies certain power to Congress . . .
 Passing Ex Post Facto Laws:
 A law that applies to an action that occurred before the
law was passed.

No use of foreign cars: arrest those who used the cars before
the law was written.
 Passing Bills of Attainder:
 A law that sentences a person to prison without a trial is
called a bill of attainder. Everyone is given a trial in a
court of law.
 Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus:
 A person accused of a crime has the right to a writ of
habeas corpus (a court order required that the accused
person be brought to court.
 Prevents a person from being kept in jail indefinitely
(can only occur in times of rebellion)
 Taxing Exports:
 Good that are sent to other countries.
 Taxing exports would harm the country’s foreign and
domestic trade.
 Congress can pass taxes on imports.
 Passing Laws that Violate the Bill of Rights:
 Cannot pass laws that violate rights and freedoms in the
Bill of Rights.
 Favoring Trade of a State:
 Congress cannot pass laws giving a state or group of
states an unfair trade advantage. Laws regulating trade
must apply to all states.
 Granting Titles of Nobility:
 Americans believe that all people are created equal.
 They are opposed to establishing a noble class, or small
group of persons with rights superior to those of other
citizens.
 Withdrawing Money Without a Law:
 Congress must pass a law indicating how money will be
spent. It must specify the amount to be spent before
public funds are made available. Therefore, Congress
must pass additional laws to provide the money for
carryout out any new laws it passes.
Other Roles of Congress
 Serving their constituents, or the people in their home
districts or states.
 They receive hundreds of phone calls, letters, emails,
etc asking them to do something.
 Congress has the power to conduct investigations
(national issues).
 The purpose is to determine if a new law is needed or
to see if an existing law is being carried out as
Congress intended.