Chapter Five

The Federal Government

The Legislative Branch

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The Powers of Congress

Powers of CongressCongress has three types of powers

1. delegated• assigned to the legislative branch by the Constitution

2. implied• based on interpretation of constitutional powers

3. impeachment• checks and balances system created by Constitution

Delegated Powers • Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1-17 of the Constitution

• called delegated because they are specifically assigned to Congress• these powers give Congress the authority to make laws in five

important areas1. financing the government2. regulating and encouraging trade and industry3. defending the country4. creating lower courts5. providing for growth

Financing Government• raise and collect taxes• borrow money• print and coin money• pay the debts of the U.S.• provide for the country's defense and general welfare

Delegated Powers

Regulating and Encouraging American Trade and Industry• regulate trade with foreign countries• regulate trade between the states (domestic)• sets a uniform standard of weights and measures

• English and Metric system• protect the rights of inventors

• patents, copyrights, trademarks• establishment of post offices• regulates the building of roads

• U.S. routes, interstates• set punishments for piracy and other major crimes committed

against American ships on the high seas

Delegated Powers

Defending the Country• power to declare war• maintain an army and a navy• provide for a citizen army that can be called to duty during

wartime or national emergencies• national guard or state militia

Delegated Powers

Delegated PowersCreating Lower Courts

• pass laws concerning such crimes as counterfeiting and treason• established a system of national courts to ensure that these and

other federal laws are upheld

Delegated PowersProviding for Growth

• regulate immigration• pass naturalization laws

• make it possible for immigrants to become U.S. citizens• power to govern the country's territories• provide for the admission of new states

Implied Powersthe necessary and proper clause (elastic clause)

• Article I Section 8 Clause 18• Congress has the power "to make all laws which shall be

necessary and proper for carrying into execution [carrying out] the foregoing powers [delegated powers].“

• known as the elastic clause• allows Congress to stretch the delegated powers listed in the

Constitution to cover many other subjects• permits Congress to pass laws related to situations that developed

after the Constitution was written• defend the country – create military academies• regulate trade and industry – set minimum wage

Implied Powers = Powers not specifically granted to Congress by the Constitution that are suggested to be necessary to carry out the powers delegated to Congress under the Constitution.

Examples of Implied Powers

Impeachment PowerImpeachment

• power to accuse high federal officials of serious crimes against the country• president, vice president, and federal judges• members of the executive branch and judicial branch• part of checks and balances system

• power to bring these officials to trial for their crimes• power to remove these officials from office if they are found

guilty of these crimes• treason

• an act that betrays or endangers one's country• abuse of power

• Watergate scandal• perjury or obstruction

• Clinton affair

Impeachment = The House procedure of drawing up and passing a list of charges against a high federal official.

House of Representatives• draws up charges against an accused official• list of charges is read before the entire House• representatives vote• if a majority vote in favor of the list of charges, the official is

impeached, or formally accused and put on trial

Senate• holds trial on the impeachment charges• vice president usually acts as the judge

• if the president is impeached the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial instead

• members of the Senate become a court jury• hear the evidence• examine all witnesses

• votes on the guilt or innocence of the official• two thirds of the Senate must find the official guilty before he or

she can be dismissed from office

Impeachment Power

Impeached Officials• impeachment process has rarely been used

• 17 federal officials have been impeached• seven of them, all judges, were found guilty of the charges

brought against them and dismissed from office• two presidents have been impeached - Andrew Johnson and Bill

Clinton• 1868 - President Johnson was found not guilty by only one vote• 1998 - President Clinton was impeached on charges that he lied

under oath and obstructed justice - found not guilty of both charges• 1974 - the threat of impeachment led President Richard M.

Nixon to resign from office• Watergate scandal

House of Representatives1. The House alone can start impeachment proceedings. 2. All bills for raising money must begin in the House. 3. If no presidential candidate receives the number of electoral votes

needed to be elected, House members choose the president.

Senate4. All impeachment trials must be held in the Senate. 5. If no vice-presidential candidate receives the number of electoral votes needed to be elected, then senators choose the vice president. 3. All treaties, or written agreements, with foreign nations must be

approved in the Senate by a two-thirds vote. 4. Certain high officials appointed by the president must be approved

in the Senate by a majority vote. Such officials include justices of the Supreme Court.

Special Powers

Limits on Powerspowers of Congress are limited in several ways

1. The Supreme Court has the power to decide when Congress has overstepped the powers granted to it by the

Constitution• judicial review – part of checks and balances• if Court rules that Congress has passed a law that exceeds

Congress's constitutional powers the law has no force2. Tenth Amendment reserves powers not specifically granted to

the national government for the state governments• states have authority regarding elections, education, marriage

3. Article I, Section 9, denies certain powers to Congress1. passing ex post facto laws2. passing bills of attainder3. suspending the writ of habeas corpus4. taxing exports5. favoring trade of a state6. granting titles of nobility7. withdrawing money without a law

4. Congress cannot pass laws that violate the Bill of Rights

Ex Post Facto Law = A law that applies to an action that took place before the law was passed.

• Congress cannot pass a law banning the use of foreign cars and then have people arrested who used foreign cars before the law was passed

*Bill of Attainder = A law sentencing a person to jail without a trial.

• the Constitution provides that anyone accused of a crime must be given a trial in a court of law

*Writ of Habeas Corpus = A court order requiring that an accused person be brought to court to determine if there is enough evidence to hold the person for trial.

• this system prevents a person from being kept in jail indefinitely• the only exception to this rule can occur in times of rebellion or invasion

* these would both violate the 5th amendment due process of law

Denied Powers

Taxing Exports • goods that are sent to other countries are called exports• a tax on exports would harm the country's foreign and domestic trade• Congress can pass taxes on imports

Favoring Trade of a State • Congress cannot pass laws giving a state or group of states an unfair trade

advantage• laws regulating trade must apply equally to all states

Granting Titles of Nobility• Americans believe that all people are created equal• they are opposed to establishing a noble class, or small group of persons

with rights superior to those of other citizens (like England)

Withdrawing Money Without a Law• must pass a law indicating how money shall be spent• it must specify the amount to be spent before public funds are made available• must pass additional laws to provide the money for carrying out any new

laws it passes

Denied Powers