Omar Bennett
The formal powers of the United States Congress are explicitly stated in the Constitution, which grants Congress its most important power: the authority to make laws. These powers are listed in Article I, Section 8, and include the power to declare war, coin money, raise an army and navy, regulate commerce, and establish federal courts and their jurisdictions. The Constitution also gives each house of Congress special, exclusive powers, such as the House of Representatives' impeachment power and the Senate's role in confirming major presidential appointments.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Document | U.S. Constitution |
| Section | Article I, Section 8 |
| Number of clauses | 18 |
| Powers listed | Authority to create money, regulate foreign and national commerce, make war, grant patents and copyrights, coin money, establish post offices, protect patents and copyrights, establish lower courts, declare war, raise and support an Army and Navy, lay and collect taxes, pay debts, borrow money, establish citizenship naturalization laws, establish bankruptcy laws, and more. |
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, contains the enumerated powers of Congress. These eighteen powers are explicitly stated and include the power to tax and spend for welfare and defence, borrow money, regulate commerce, establish citizenship naturalisation laws, and bankruptcy laws, among others. The Necessary and Proper Clause, also known as the Elastic Clause, gives Congress the authority to create laws necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated powers.
Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution, establishes the legislative powers of Congress, stating that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives".
The Constitution also grants each house of Congress special, exclusive powers. For example, the House of Representatives holds the power of impeachment, while the Senate must confirm major presidential appointments.
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Article I, Section 8
The eighteen enumerated powers are explicitly stated in Article I, Section 8. These include the power to tax and spend for the general welfare and common defence, and the power to borrow money. Congress has the authority to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States. However, all duties, imposts, and excises must be uniform throughout the country.
In addition, Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to create the postal service, the army, the navy, and the lower federal courts. Congress is responsible for determining naturalization and how immigrants become citizens. It also has the power to declare war and to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
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Implied powers
The powers of the United States Congress are explicitly stated in the Constitution, with Article I, Section I stating that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives".
However, the Framers of the Constitution also understood that they needed to provide some flexibility in the document for representatives to govern for the common good. This resulted in the inclusion of implied powers, which are powers that, although not directly stated in the Constitution, are indirectly given based on expressed powers.
The implied powers of Congress come from the Constitution's "Elastic Clause" or "Necessary and Proper Clause", which grants Congress the power to pass any laws considered "necessary and proper" for effectively exercising its "enumerated" powers. This clause states that Congress has the 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.
A historic example of implied powers can be seen in the creation of the First Bank of the United States in 1791. When Congress created the bank, President George Washington asked Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to defend the action over the objections of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. In his defence, Hamilton produced what has now become the doctrine of implied powers, arguing that the sovereign duties of any government implied that it reserved the right to use whatever powers necessary to carry out those duties.
Another example of Congress exercising implied powers is in the passing of gun control laws. While such laws may seem to be at odds with the Second Amendment, Congress has cited its expressed power to regulate interstate commerce as justification for passing these laws.
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Exclusive powers
The powers of the United States Congress are explicitly stated in the Constitution. Article I Section I states, "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives". The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers.
The House of Representatives has exclusive powers, including the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the President. The Senate also has exclusive powers, including the power to ratify treaties by a two-thirds supermajority vote and confirm the appointments of the President by a majority vote. The Senate also tries impeachment cases for federal officials referred to it by the House.
The Constitution also gives each house of Congress some special, exclusive powers. The House of Representatives has the power to initiate revenue bills, and the authority to charge the President and other "civil officers" with wrongdoing through impeachment. The Senate has the power to advise and consent to the President by a majority vote on the appointments of federal judges, ambassadors, and Cabinet positions. Treaties with other nations entered into by the President must be approved by a two-thirds vote by the Senate.
Congress also has elastic or implied powers, which give it the authority to pass laws it deems "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated functions. Congress reviews and restricts the annual budget prepared by the executive branch, and when a law is passed setting up a government program, Congress must pass an authorization bill that states the maximum amount of money available. When the nation's budget is set, only Congress can set the appropriations for each program that it has authorized.
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Enumerated powers
The formal powers of Congress are explicitly stated in the US Constitution, which grants Congress its most important power: the authority to make laws. The Constitution also gives each house of Congress some special, exclusive powers. The enumerated powers of Congress are laid out in Article I, Section 8, which contains 18 powers.
These powers include the ability to: lay and collect taxes, pay debts, borrow money, regulate commerce, coin money, establish post offices, protect patents and copyrights, establish lower courts, declare war, and raise and support an Army and Navy. The list also includes the power to make all laws deemed "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers. This is known as the Elastic Clause and has allowed for expanded Congressional power.
The House of Representatives holds the power to originate revenue bills and impeach the President and other civil officers. Meanwhile, the Senate must confirm major presidential appointments, including federal judges, ambassadors, and Cabinet positions.
Congress also has the power to establish rules of immigration and naturalization, and to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing intellectual property rights for authors and inventors.
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Frequently asked questions
The formal powers of Congress are listed in Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution.
The enumerated powers of Congress are the 18 powers explicitly stated in Article I, Section 8, which include the power to tax and spend, borrow money, regulate commerce, coin money, declare war, and make laws.
The House of Representatives has the exclusive power to originate revenue bills and impeach the President and other civil officers.
The Senate has the exclusive power to confirm major presidential appointments, such as federal judges, ambassadors, and Cabinet positions.
The implied powers of Congress are not specifically stated in the Constitution but are inferred from the Necessary and Proper Clause (Clause 8), which allows Congress to pass laws it deems "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated functions.
