1. Congressional Powers

2. Quick Review  Expressed Powers  Enumerated Powers  Implied Power  Necessary and Proper Clause

3. Expressly Denied Powers  Can’t go against the Bill of Rights  Cannot suspend the “writ of habeas corpus”  An order releasing a person to court to determine if they were legally detained  Cannot pass “Bills of Attainder”  Laws that establish guilt without a trial  Cannot pass “ex post facto laws”  Laws that make acts illegal that were legal when committed

4. Legislative Powers  Power to tax (Revenue Bills)  “All bills for raising revenue shall start in the House.” Art 1, Section 7

5. Legislative Powers  Power to spend money (Appropriations Bills)  No other branch has this  Congress is allowed to (and does) attach requirements on the money  Example: No money for your state unless you set your highway speed limits at 55 mph

6. Legislative Powers  Other money powers:  Borrow Money  Coin Money  Punish Counterfeiters  Pass laws concerning bankruptcy  Commerce Powers  Regulate foreign and Interstate commerce

7. Legislative Powers  Foreign Policy Powers:  Approve Treaties (Senate only)  Declare War  Create and maintain an Army and Navy  Control the process of Naturalization  Admit States and govern Territories  Grant Copyrights and Patents

8. Non-Legislative Powers  In an election if no candidate receives a majority of the votes...  The House picks a president from the top three candidates  The Senate picks a vice president from the top two candidates  Has happened twice  Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr (1800)  John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson (1824)

9. Non-Legislative Powers  Impeachment  House votes to “impeach”. Which starts the process  Senate holds the impeachment trial  Andrew Johnson was impeached, but not convicted in 1868  Richard Nixon would have been impeached, but he resigned in 1974  Bill Clinton was impeached, but not convicted in 1999

10. Non-Legislative Powers  Confirmation Powers  Senate approves Presidential appointments  Military Promotions  Cabinet and Subcabinet  Diplomats  Federal Judges  Supreme Court  Propose Constitutional Amendments

11. Investigation  The constitution does not mention Congress having a power to investigate  The Supreme Court has upheld investigations as long as they are somehow related to a Congressional Power  Congress has all the powers and restrictions of a regular court  Subpoena  Perjury  Contempt  Rights of the Accused do apply

12. Oversight  In general, Congress passes laws and the Executive branch carries them out  Using the Commerce and the Necessary and Proper clauses Congress can ‘oversee’ what the executive Branch is doing