 Congress gets all of its power from Article I of the U.S. Constitution

 Congress has 3 kinds of power: › Expressed – directly written in the Constitution › Implied – reasonably assumed based on the expressed powers › Inherent – nowhere in the Constitution, but always held by national governments

 How much power Congress has depends on how we interpret the Constitution  There are two major “schools of thought” on how much power Congress should have

 Strict Constructionist (originalist)– believe that Congress should only have the expressed powers and no more › Support very limited government › Believe that individual liberty is most important › First SC was Thomas Jefferson

 Liberal Constructionist (living constitution) – believed that we should interpret the Constitution loosely, so that Congress could have more power › Support an active government › Believe that governmental effectiveness is most important › First LC was Alexander Hamilton

The Constitution gives Congress the power: “To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States.…” —Article I, Section 8, Clause 1

A tax is a charge levied by government on persons or property to meet public needs. The Constitution places four limits on Congress’s power to tax:

› Power to “borrow money on the credit of the United States”  Deficit – money spent exceeding tax revenue, must be borrowed this year to pay our bills ($172 billion in 2007)  Borrowed by selling bonds  Debt – total of all deficits yet to be paid back, plus interest owed

 For your information  The Outstanding Public Debt as of 07 Apr 2009 at 05:07:25 PM GMT is: $11,161,252,299,  The estimated population of the United States is 305,958,505 so each citizen's share of this debt is $36,  The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $3.87 billion per day since September 28, 2007!

 The commerce power —the power of Congress to regulate interstate and foreign trade—is granted in the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.  Power is often extended to do seemingly unrelated implied powers  Build interstate highways  Ban racial discrimination

› Power to “coin money and regulate the value thereof” (1 st legal tender 1863) › Power to “establish uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies”  Bankruptcy – person declared incapable of repaying debt, debts are cleared

 Congress has the power to declare war  Congress’s war powers include: the power to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, and to organize, arm, and discipline the military.

 Naturalization – setting the rules to become a citizen  Postal Power – Congress sets up the Post Office  Copyrights and Patents  Weights and Measures – making sure they mean the same thing nationwide

 Power over territories – Congress controls territories, and decides whether they become states or not  Eminent Domain – Congress can take private property for public use  Judicial Power – Congress sets up the court system

 Necessary and Proper Clause – Where the implied powers come from › Tells Congress they can make any laws “necessary and proper” for carrying out their expressed powers

 First case that tested the Necessary and Proper Clause  Congress created a national bank, and Maryland hated it  Maryland placed a tax on all national bank transactions to try and put it out of business

 Any laws Congress passes, so long as they hold to the spirit of the Constitution, are okay  This is a liberal constructionist position  Since this case, Congress has used many implied powers

 Propose Constitutional Amendments with 2/3 vote in both houses  House of Reps. chooses the president if no candidate gets a majority in the electoral college  Senate chooses vice-president

 Impeachment – means to bring criminal charges against  Impeachment requires majority vote in the House

 After House votes, trial begins  Chief Justice acts as judge, Senate acts as jury

 A conviction, which would remove the pres. from office, requires a 2/3 vote in the Senate

 Appointment – President appoints officials with majority approval of Senate

 Treaties – President makes treaties, but Senate must approve with 2/3 vote