Ms. Shay Political Science Chapter 11 Powers of Congress Ms. Shay Political Science Chapter 11

Delegated Powers Article I Section 8

Clause 1 Power to lay and collect taxes to be used to: Pay the debts Provide for the common defense Promote the general welfare

Clause 2 Power to Borrow money This power is unlimited – which is why our nation is in debt for $17 Trillion ($17,000,000,000,000) Who do we borrow from? Ourselves by printing more money Foreign nations – China owns 30% of our debt.

Clause 3 Power to regulate commerce (trade) Examples of regulations: With foreign nations Among the several states With Indian (Native American) tribes Examples of regulations: Limiting amount of carbon emissions Building roads Remember this power causes a lot of controversy between federal and state like we saw in video

Clause 4 Establish naturalization laws (process of becoming a citizen) Establish bankruptcy laws (writing off debts) When an individual declares bankruptcy, it means they claim they cannot pay back money they have borrowed. Courts can declare an individual debt free but it hurts credit rating and your ability to borrow money in the future.

Clause 5 Coin money – the power to physically print the dollar bills and stamp out the metal to make pennies, nickels, dimes, etc. Regulate its value Establish uniform weights and measures – a pound should be a pound no matter what kind of scale is used. Especially important when packaging products.

Clause 6 Punish counterfeiting Money doesn’t grow on trees and it can’t be printed from your computer either!

Clause 7 Establish post offices Establish postal roads All post offices are federal buildings with federal employees even if they are in your local town

Clause 8 Patents for ideas Copyrights for written material Patents and copyrights protect the authors or inventors from their ideas being stolen. This encourages entrepreneurs and academics to continue research and development because the profit incentive is guaranteed.

Clause 9 Establish courts lower than the Supreme Court A tribunal is a court There are also military tribunals

Clause 10 To punish theft and crime at sea

Clause 11 Declare war President may be commander in chief of the armed forces, but only Congress can declare war.

Clause 12 Raise and support armies

Clause 13 To provide and maintain a navy

Clause 14 Make rules to govern and regulate land and naval forces

Clause 15 Call for the militia to prevent insurrections, execute national law, and repel invasion

Clause 16 Provide, organize, arm and discipline the militia States have right to train and appoint officers in their state militia – also known as the national guard

Clause 17 Authority over forts, dockyards, arsenals Govern District of Columbia (D.C.) Acquire territory

Clause 18 To make all laws that are necessary and proper to carry out the powers in Clause 1-17 This is also known as the Elastic Clause – it stretches the powers of the first 17 clauses. This clause creates a lot of controversy.

Denied Powers Article I Section 9

Clause 1 Prohibits Congress from stopping the slave trade before 1808

Clause 2 The privilege of Writ of Habeas Corpus may not be suspended Writ of Habeas Corpus means “to have the body” The Congress cannot take your body and put it in prison Unless there is an invasion or rebellion that requires prison to protect the public safety

Clause 3 No bill of attainder – cannot pronounce a person guilty of a crime without a trial that would sentence him to death and make him give up his property. This ensures that no man will be convicted by Congress, therefore adhering to separation of powers. No ex post facto laws no laws can be made, “after the fact” On Monday it is legal to smoke cigarettes in public places. So you smoke a cigarette. On Tuesday, it becomes illegal to smoke in a public place On Tuesday, you can’t be arrested for what you did on Monday because it wasn’t illegal on Monday.

Clause 4 Congress cannot tax unless according to census This has since been deleted by the 16th amendment which allows Congress to tax income.

Clause 5 Congress may NOT put a tax on exports If they did, it would raise the price of goods and foreign nations would then not buy them. It would also give imported products an unfair advantage. Remember when the British only wanted colonists to buy their tea? Colonists dumped all their tea in the Boston Harbor to protest the taxes the British imposed on colonial tea. That’s why it’s in our Constitution.

Clause 6 Congress cannot favor the ports of one state over another No ship will have to pay taxes to enter ports in another state.

Clause 7 Money can only be spent by Congress from our Treasury if a law to do so has been approved by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President. This is how our Congress can shut down the Government If they want to make a point, or pressure something to get done, they can refuse to vote on a budget or a continuing resolution to fund the government and approve money to be spent.

Clause 8 No titles of nobility may be granted by Congress to any federal employee, appointee, or elected official No federal employee, appointee, or elected official may accept a title of nobility from any King, Prince, or foreign state.

Amendment POWER Congress may propose amendments with a 2/3 vote in both Houses of Congress Can only be ratified by states though which ensures the principle of federalism

Electoral Powers If there is a tie in the Electoral College when electing the President or Vice President: The House has the power to break the tie and choose the President The Senate has the power to break the tie and choose the VP There are 538 electoral votes. A candidate needs 270 of them to win the Presidency. Because 538 is an even number, it is possible for each candidate to earn 269…that’s a tie!

Appointment power The Senate has the power to approve all Presidential appointments. The President appoints the following positions: Ambassadors Judges Supreme Court Justices Cabinet Department Heads – aka Secretaries like the Secretary of State.

impeachment To impeach means to accuse someone of a crime. House has the power to impeach Senate has the power to hold a trial Senate has the power to sentence. That sentence could be removal from office but doesn’t have to be. Only 2 Presidents have ever been impeached President Andrew Johnson President Bill Clinton

treaties The Senate has the power to approve all treaties made by the President with foreign nations. Remember when President Wilson agreed to the Treaty of Versailles that made the League of Nations after WWI? Our Senate refused to approve that treaty because the American public didn’t want to get involved in another European war.

investigatory Congress has the power to set up a committee to investigate any government official of wrong-doing or illegal activity. Example: Benghazi, Watergate, IRS