1. Chapter 5 Congress: The Legislative Branch
Section 1 & 2
Congress and The Powers of Congres

2. Section 1 at a Glance Congress Main Idea Reading Focus
Members of Congress strive to represent the interests of their constituents while keeping in mind the needs of the country as a whole.
Congress is a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives and a Senate.
Congress plays a vital role in the system of checks and balances.
Main Idea
The voters elect members of Congress to represent them and to enact laws in their name. Congress plays a vital role in our government’s system of checks and balances.
Reading Focus
How does Congress represent the people?
Why is the structure of Congress important?
What is the role of Congress in the system of checks and balances?

3. Congress and the People
Congress is the representative body through which the will of the people is made into law.
Representing the People
Represent the interests of their constituents, the voters in the district that elected them
Attempt to balance the needs of their constituents with those of the nation as a whole
Civilization ended around 400 BC
Members of Congress
Tend to be older than the general population
Tend to be wealthier
Most of them have been white men
In recent years, more representative of the nation’s diversity

4. The Structure of Congress
Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The House of Representatives
1929: number fixed at 435
Number of representatives each state can elect based on state’s population
Apportionment: distribution of seats according to population
Representatives serve two-year terms
The Senate
100 members
Each state represented by two senators
Senators serve six-year terms

6. The Structure of Congress {continued}
The Two-House Structure
Bicameral legislature proposed at the 1787 Constitutional Convention
Great Compromise combined elements of two previously proposed plans, Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan
Bicameral system adopted parts of both plans: states would have equal representation in Senate, but proportional representation based on population in House of Representatives

7. Congress and Checks and Balances
The Power of the Purse
Only Congress can deny funding requests from executive branch
Through appropriation, Congress can prevent president from carrying out policies
The Power of Advice and Consent
Senate must approve treaties negotiated by president
Senate has power to reject presidential appointees
The Impeachment Power
Impeachment power rarely used
Congress can charge officials with wrongdoing, bring them to trial
Process only in cases involving treason, bribery, “high crimes and misdemeanors”
Other Checks and Balances
Begins process of amending Constitution
Can override presidential veto of bill
Congressional oversight: broad powers of executive review

9. Section 2 at a Glance The Powers of Congress Main Idea Reading Focus
Congress has extensive expressed, inherent, and implied powers.
The extent of Congress’s implied powers is a subject of debate.
The powers of Congress have expanded over time with the growth of government
Main Idea
The Constitution gives Congress many expressed powers, and it implies some others. The Constitution also places limits on the powers of Congress.
Reading Focus
What types of powers does Congress have?
What are the expressed powers of Congress?
What are the implied powers of Congress?
What are some of Congress’s nonlegislative powers?
What are some of the limits on the powers of Congress?
How has the power of Congress changed during U.S. history?

10. Defining the Powers of Congress
Three types of powers held by Congress
—Expressed: spelled out in Constitution
—Implied: suggested in Constitution in the necessary and proper clause
—Inherent: powers a government maintains simply because it is a government
In addition to granting powers to Congress, the Constitution explicitly denies powers to the legislative branch.

11. Expressed Powers of Congress
Financing Powers
Uses power to “lay and collect taxes” by levying direct taxes and indirect taxes
Has power to borrow money on behalf of the United States in case of deficit
Commerce Power
Has power to regulate interstate commerce under Constitution’s commerce clause
Only Congress can pass laws affecting economic activity that takes place across state lines.
Defense-Related Powers
Framers granted Congress power to declare war
Congress retains power to raise army and navy and to provide for their funding
Other Expressed Powers
Deal with regulation of national economy (coinage, postal service, copyrights and patents, weights and measures)
Include establishing bankruptcy law, naturalization process, courts

12. Expressed Powers of Congress
Clause 1:
To levy taxes
Clause 2:
To borrow money
Clause 3:
To regulate foreign and interstate commerce
Clause 4:
To establish uniform rules of citizenship
Clause 5:
To coin money; to set uniform weights and measures

13. Expressed Powers of Congress {continued}
Clause 6:
To punish counterfeiters
Clause 7:
To establish post offices and post roads
Clause 8:
To make copyright and patent laws
Clause 9:
To establish national courts inferior to the Supreme Court
Clause 10:
To define and punish piracy and other violations of international law

14. Expressed Powers of Congress {continued}
Clause 11:
To declare war
Clause 12:
To raise and support armies
Clause 13:
To raise and maintain a navy
Clause 14:
To establish military laws
Clause 15:
To call up a national militia in times of uprising or foreign invasion
Clause 16:
To organize, arm, and discipline a militia when it is called into service
Clause 17:
To exercise jurisdiction over the District of Columbia
Clause 18:
To make all laws necessary and proper to the execution of any of the other expressed powers

15. Landmark Supreme Court Cases Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Why It Matters:
Gibbons v. Ogden was the first case in which the Supreme Court ruled on the Constitution’ commerce clause, which concerns Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce.

16. Implied Powers of Congress
Loose and Strict Constructionists
Founders disagreed about how necessary and proper clause should be defined
Strict constructionists
—Congress should only exercise powers explicitly granted in Constitution
—Known as Antifederalists
Loose constructionists
—Congress should have more freedom to interpret Constitution
—Known as Federalists
The Necessary and Proper Clause Today
Has led to expanded federal authority over time

18. Nonlegislative Powers
Powers Common to Both Houses
Propose const itutional amendments
Conduct investigations
Ability to issue subpoenas, documents that require person to testify
Powers of the House
Under Twelfth Amendment, House can choose president if no candidate receives majority of electoral votes
Powers of the Senate
May choose vice president
Provides advice and consent on presidential appointments
Must approve treaties negotiated by president

19. Limits on the Powers of Congress
Many clauses in Constitution protect citizens’ basic civil rights
Congress may not suspend writ of habeas corpus, except in cases of rebellion or invasion
Congress is forbidden from passing bill of attainder, law that allows person to be punished without trial
Constitution also forbids Congress from passing ex post facto laws, laws that criminalize a past action

20. The Changing Power of Congress
In the twentieth-century Congress expanded its power to meet the needs of the growing nation.
Responded to severe economic crisis in 1930s: provided Social Security, help to unemployed
Post–World War II, responded to new status of nation as dominant world power: created new U.S. Air Force, CIA, NASA
Delegated some powers to federal agencies it created

21. Vocabulary
Constituents
The people who live within the particular geographic area a member of Congress represents
Apportionment
The distribution of House seats among the states based on population
Appropriation
A bill that sets aside funds for a specific purpose
Impeachment
When Congress charges an official in the executive or judicial branch with wrongdoing and brings them to trial
Oversight
When Congress uses its broad powers to review how the executive branch is operating to make sure it is following the laws Congress has passed
Necessary and Proper Clause
Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution, which state Congress’ implied powers, also called the elastic clause
Indirect Tax
A tax levied on one person but passed on to another for payment to the government

22. Vocabulary
Direct Tax
A tax an individual pays directly to the government
Deficit
When the federal government is not generating enough income to meet is expenses
Commerce Clause
Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which states that the federal government has the right to regulate interstate commerce.
Subpoenas
Legal documents that require a person to testify in a certain matter
Writ of Habeas Corpus
A court order that forces the police to present a person in court to face charges, except in cases of rebellion or invasion
Bill of Attainder
A law that punishes a person without trial
Ex Post Facto Laws
Laws that criminalize an action that took place in the past and was legal at the time