United States Government

Constitutional Provisions  Article 1, Section 8 describes the power of Congress  These are called the expressed powers (AKA enumerated powers)  The 18 th of these is the “necessary and proper clause” (AKA elastic clause), which allows them to do things not directly expressed.  These are called implied powers

Constitutional Provisions  Conflicting Interpretations  The Supreme Court generally decides if an act of Congress would fall within the Necessary and Proper Clause ▪ The first time this happened was in 1816 when the Second Bank of the United States was founded and Maryland taxed its bills. This resulted in the landmark case, McCulloch v. Maryland.

Constitutional Provisions  Powers Denied  Article 1, Section 9 limits the powers of Congress ▪ Congress cannot suspend the write of habeas corpus ▪ This means people have a right for the courts to determine if they are legally claimed ▪ Congress cannot pass bills of attainder ▪ This means claiming someone is guilty and punishing them without a trial ▪ Congress cannot pass ex post facto laws ▪ This makes things illegal that were not illegal when they occurred

Legislative Powers  Taxing and Spending Power  “Power of the Purse” ▪ No governmental organization can spend money without Congressional approval ▪ This gives them broad power in shaping national policy  Article 1, Section 7: All bills raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives ▪ Revenue bills are laws for raising funds ▪ The large states wanted this so they had more control over taxation

Legislative Powers  Taxing and Spending Power  Appropriations Bills ▪ These are bills allowing spending ▪ Not spelled out in Constitution ▪ Generally come from Executive branch with the president’s annual budget request. ▪ Congress uses it ability to control spending to control policy and the economy

Legislative Powers  Other Money Powers  Congress is allowed to borrow money ▪ This is done through the sale of savings bonds, Treasury notes, and treasury bills. ▪ The borrowing of money has resulted in a national debt. ▪ A ceiling has been set to prevent too much debt, but it is routinely raised

Legislative Powers  Other Money Powers  Congress can print money and set its value ▪ This also allows them to prosecute counterfeiters  Congress can legislative bankruptcy ▪ They let states handle it until Since then it has mostly been handled in Federal Court

Legislative Powers  The Commerce Power  Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 says Congress can regulate foreign commerce and interstate commerce (commerce between states).  This has been used to broadly expand the powers of the Federal Government, with the Supreme Court consistently ruling it does not only apply to buying and selling goods

Legislative Powers  The Commerce Power  Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 says Congress can regulate foreign commerce and interstate commerce (commerce between states).  This has been used to broadly expand the powers of the Federal Government, with the Supreme Court consistently ruling it does not only apply to buying and selling goods

Legislative Powers  The Commerce Power  Gibbons v Ogden (1824) determined this was not only about products  This has been expanded to include almost every area of modern life: broadcasting, banking and finance, air and water pollution, insurance.  It has been used to force a federal minimum wage  It was used to allow the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prevention of discrimination in restaurants in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964)

Legislative Powers  Foreign Policy Powers  Congress can approve treaties, declare war, create and maintain armed forces, and regulate foreign trade.  Its shares foreign policy powers with the President and usually follows his lead. ▪ Congress has declared was 5 times and presidents have used military force more than 200 times. ▪ Congress passed a law in 1973 stating the president had to notify Congress within 48 hours

Legislative Powers  Providing for National Growth  Congress has the authority to naturalize new citizens  Congress has the authority to create new states and govern new territories  Congress can control federal lands

Legislative Powers  Other Legislative Powers  Congress can grant copyrights and patents ▪ Copyright is the exclusive right to sell a literary, musical, or artistic work for a specific time. Currently the life of creator plus 50 years. ▪ Patents is the same, except for an invention. This is currently 17 years, but can be renewed. ▪ Congress can establish and control the postal service and can establish federal courts

Non-Legislative Powers  The Power to Choose a President  A joint session of Congress counts electoral votes. If no one has a majority, the House chooses.  Each state’s delegation gets one vote  The Senate chooses the VP – this makes it possible that the VP could be from a different party.  Congress has only chosen twice: 1800 and 1824.

Non-Legislative Powers  The Removal Power  Congress can remove any federal official from office ▪ The House can formally accuse someone of misconduct (this is called impeachment). If a majority votes to impeach, they are sent to the Senate. ▪ The Senate has a trial to determine guilt. 2/3 must vote to convict and remove from office. ▪ If it involves the president, the Chief Justice presides

Non-Legislative Powers  The Removal Power  Congress can remove any federal official from office ▪ Two president have been impeached: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton ▪ Neither of them was found guilty and removed from office.

Non-Legislative Powers  The Confirmation Power  The Senate has to confirm executive appointment to federal positions. ▪ These includes all cabinet secretaries, military posts, regulatory agencies, federal courts, and the Supreme Court.

Non-Legislative Powers  The Ratification Power  Article II, Section 2 gives the Senate the power to ratify treaties  This allows them to shape foreign policy  Presidents can get around this by using executive agreements instead of treaties.

Non-Legislative Powers  The Amendment Power  Congress and the states can both propose amendments to the US Constitution  The states have never called conventions and Congress has debated limiting their power  27 amendments have been proposed by Congress and passed and 6 failed.  All of them have been approved by state legislature, except the 21 st.

The Power to Investigate  The first investigation was an investigation into the Army  The Investigation Process  Standing and Select Committees can investigate  Staffers travel around the country and do research  Most get little news coverage, but some have become big media events: IRS collections, Benghazi  Ethics committee investigations lead to arrest and expulsion from Congress  These investigations lead to new laws, new policies, or arrest of officials involved – Witch hunt investigations can really hurt the reputation of people.

The Power to Investigate  The Congressional Powers and Witness Rights  Congress can subpoena witnesses and documents  Congress can charge people with perjury for lying under oath  Congress can hold people in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate in a hearing

The Power to Investigate  The Congressional Powers and Witness Rights  In 1957, SCOTUS ruled in Watkins v. US that witnesses had the same rights in Congressional hearings as they do in court.  Due to this, Congress can’t force someone to testify against their will, so they offer immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony.  Oliver North’s help in uncovering illegal gun sales to Iran and his ability to get his case thrown out is an example of this.

Legislative Oversight  This involves reviewing the effectiveness of the Executive branch in carrying out legislation.  The Practice of Legislative Oversight  This is part of Checks and Balances by allowing the Congress to determine how well the executive branch is doing its job.  The Legislative Reorganization Acts encourage each committee to monitor how their legislation is implemented.

Legislative Oversight  Limits on Legislative Oversight  It is not carried out often  There is simply too much going on in the Executive branch to monitor it all  It doesn’t translate into votes because people do not really care about it.  This generally results in oversight only happening in high publicity areas  Generally, the agency that is experiencing oversight helped craft the law to begin with

Legislative Oversight  Congressional Limits on Executive Activities  Congress can force executive agencies to send yearly reports to make oversight easier  Congress also has the General Accounting Office (GAO) to study agencies  Congress can reduce, increase, or eliminate programs by the amount of funds they provide  Conrgess used to have a legislative veto, which allowed them to write laws that have them oversight of agencies and the ability to directly control them. ▪ SCOTUS ruled this is illegal in Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)

Legislative Oversight  Independent Counsel  Between 1973 and 1999 Congress could hire an independent prosecutor to research and lead investigations.  This lead to a lot of different trials and the impeachment of President Clinton  It fell out of popularity because it didn’t remove politics from investigations as hoped.  It was not renewed in 1999.