1. Powers of Congress!

2. Speaker of the House Most powerful position in Congress Paul Ryan- WI
Reason
Both elected leader of the House & acknowledged leader of the party
Sets the docket
Paul Ryan- WI
2nd in line for
president
Relationship w/ Trump

3. On Voting and Debate B/c Speaker is House member-
May offer debate and vote on an issue
Appoints a temporary presiding officer
Usually doesn’t vote- vote to cause a tie- which defeats a motion
MUST vote in case of tie of a tie

4. President of the Senate
Is the VP of the US
Joe Biden
NOT a member of the Senate
Didn’t go through the trenches to get position
Can ONLY vote in case of a tie and can NOT offer debate.

5. Mike Pence Former Senator & IN governor Conservative- Prolife
anti-gay marriage
Wants deregulation of business

6. Congressional Powers

7. Powers in Constitution
Exclusive- powers only to Federal Government
Making war
Reserved- Those given specifically given to the states.
Hunting/Education
Concurrent- Those shared by state and Federal
Taxes

8. States giving up rights!
For $
Control the purse- control the states
Drinking Age

9. Congress-
Only has powers granted to it by the Constitution.

10. Powers granted 3 ways to Government
Expressed - Explicitly written in the Constitution
You can read it in the Constitution
Article 1 Sect 8 (page 763)
Implied- Come from a reasonable deduction of powers necessary to implement expressed powers
Inherent- Because it is a national government it gets to do certain things
Treaties, Make war,
Deal w/ international problems

11. Expressed Powers include
Raising a navy
Maintaining an army
Printing and coining money
Establish post offices and post roads
Define and punish piracy
Borrow money
Declare war

12. Constructionist-
How do we interpret the Constitution?

13. Strict VS Liberal Interpretations
Thomas Jefferson
Congress really only has the powers expressly given and very few after that.
Small national gov
State Rights
Alexander Hamilton
If it is good for the general welfare then Congress has the power.
STRONG national gov
National rights
Today- Liberals WIN!!…

14. Expressed Powers of Money and Commerce
Tax
Borrowing
Commerce
Currency
Bankruptcy

15. Taxing Power-
Charge placed on people or property to raise money for the public good
Ex. Protective Tariff
Tax on imports to make domestic goods cheaper.
Taxes to protect public
Ex- alcohol/cigarettes
Income Tax
IRS collects money-

16. Limits on Taxing Tax only for public purpose not private benefit
May not tax exports
Goods leaving the country
Churches and other Gov Agencies
Tax shall be uniform throughout the entire country (indirect tax)
Can’t tax CA more than SD it MUST be the same
Ex-
Federal gas, alcohol, and cigarette tax

17. Types of Tax
Progressive Tax- Levied at rates based on a person’s ability to pay.
Regressive Tax- Levied at fixed rates regardless of a person’s ability to pay.

18. Indirect tax- tax paid by one person but passed on to another.
Sales Tax
Direct Tax- tax paid directly to the gov by the person on whom it is imposed
Income tax

19. Borrowing Power Gov. can borrow as much as it wants
There is a law that caps it “debt ceiling”- max amount of money our country can borrow.
But Congress just increases when needed.
Public Debt- all the money gov. has borrowed and needs to pay back.
Deficit- The amount of money over the actual money we have.

20. Commerce Power Right to regulate interstate and foreign trade
Gibbons vs Ogden 1824
Said states could not create a monopoly
Commerce power gave the Fed Gov. right to say no to discrimination
Limits on Commerce Power
c/n tax exports
c/n favor one state over another
c/n tax trade b/n states

22. Currency Power Right to make coins and cash
Legal Tender- any kind of money that a creditor must by law accept in payments for debt.
Reason- each state had a different currency which made transactions difficult

23. Bankruptcy
Legal proceeding in which the person who files for bankruptcy’s assets (things he owns) however much or little they have are distributed among those to whom a debt is owed
Once filed frees you from responsibility.
All bankruptcy proceedings happen in federal courts

24. Other Expressed Powers

25. Foreign Relations-
States cannot negotiate because they are NOT sovereign
Congress gets powers from 2 sources-
The Constitution – war powers and power to regulate foreign commerce
US is sovereign so someone has to deal with other countries – why not Congress?

26. War Powers- Constitution says Only Congress may declare war
It can raise and support armies and a navy
It can call forth the militia
It can make rules concerning captures on land and water

28. Other Expressed Powers
Naturalization
The Postal Power
Copyrights and Patents
Weights and Measures
Power over Territories and Other Areas
Judicial Powers

29. Implied Powers
Implied powers come from one of the expressed powers – The Necessary and Proper Clause – Congress can make all laws that are necessary and proper for carrying out duties listed in the Constitution
Called the “elastic clause”
Used this to set up the Bank of the United States
Federal kidnapping laws

30. Implied Powers Cont’d McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
Congress wanted to set up the 2nd Bank of the US
Opponents (Maryland) started taxing notes issued by the Bank
McCulloch (bank cashier) purposely didn’t pay taxes on the notes

31. McCulloch v. Maryland cont’d
Courts said the Bank was necessary and proper b/c taxing, borrowing, currency and commerce powers
Courts also said states c/n tax any agency of the fed govt
This decision brought about the implied powers
Give Supreme Court power to interpret it.

32. Non-Legislative Powers
Constitutional Amendments – can propose w/ 2/3 vote in each house
Electoral Duties – if no candidate receives a majority (270) of electoral votes
House chooses President (one vote per state)
Senate chooses VP (one vote per senator)
If VP c/n serve, Senate must confirm successor
Ford, Rockefeller

33. Non-Legislative Powers cont’d
Impeachment
Any civil officer (judges, pres, VP, etc) can be impeached
Only the house can impeach – to accuse, bring charges against (majority vote)
Senate tries impeachment cases (2/3 vote for conviction)
Chief Justice of Supreme Court Presides
2 Presidents - Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton
Nixon would have been, but he resigned first

34. Non-Legislative Powers
Executive Powers
Appointments
Senate Confirms appointments made by the president
Treaties- Senate Approve
President must get the advice and consent of the senate (usually foreign relations committee) to form treaties
Investigatory Power – Congress can investigate anything that falls within the scope of its legislative powers
Benghazi- Libya attack on our consulate
Planned Parenthood-

35. Letters of Marque and Reprisal
Allows ships to turn into pirates in time of war!
Outdated- but hey it is still there

36. Balance of POWER

37. Balance of Power Found in the Constitution-
Popular Sovereignty- people are only source of power
Limit Government- only do what the people allow. Based in-
Constitutionalism- Gov conducted according to constitution
3. Separation of Powers- powers distributed between three separate and distinct branches

38. Continued- (Don’t write slide title)
4. Judicial Review- Courts review laws/executive decrees are in accordance to Constitution.
5. Federalism- balance of power between states and Federal Gov.

40. State Level
Direct Democracy
South Dakota was the first!

41. Initiated Measures-
Both referendums and initiated laws need 5% of the # of people who voted for governor.
Constitutional measures need 10%
5% is 15,854 signatures of qualified voters

42. The Differences-
Referendum- to recall a law or constitutional amendment that has already passed
Initiated Measure- proposing a new law
Initiated Constitutional Measure-
Proposed change to the State Constitution