Powers of Congress: Expressed, Limited, and Expanded

Introduction to Congressional Powers

Within the system of the U.S. federal government, Congress represents the legislative branch, in contrast to the President (the executive) and the court system (the judicial). In essence, Congress is charged with making laws. There are two parts to Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The first type of powers that Congress holds are the enumerated powers — those that specifically derive from the Constitution.

Expressed Powers of Congress

The expressed powers of Congress are outlined in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution. Section 8 is where these powers are written. Rather than quoting the section directly, the following paragraphs paraphrase its content. Congress has the power to collect taxes, excises, and other similar levies, which are used to pay the debts of the government. Congress also has the ability to borrow money on the credit of the United States.

Congress has the power to "provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States." This is sometimes interpreted specifically as Congress having the express power to wage war, but common defence and general welfare is not nearly the same thing as waging war on foreign soil where the United States is not threatened — though Congress does have the power to declare war. Congress may have interpreted this clause as referring to the broader interests of the United States, but that is not precisely what the Constitution states. Congress does have the specific power to raise armies and navies. This supports the concept of the military draft, for example, because Congress has the power to raise armies and thus holds the constitutional right to conscript people into those armies, though the Constitution does not specifically prescribe the means by which this task should be performed.

There is also the power to punish piracy and felonies on the high seas — a function typically carried out today by the Coast Guard — and such matters are generally handled through the Department of Defense. In practice, the executive branch tends to run the Department of Defense, but it is funded through Congress, and many of its powers ultimately fall to Congress under the Constitution. Several other clauses deal with militias and national security. Congress specifically has the right to raise militias, suppress insurrection, and execute the laws of the union. Essentially, if Congress wished to establish a national police force, it would have the constitutional right to do so, though it typically allows each civil jurisdiction to manage its own law enforcement. This is an important issue in the policing field, as the concept of a national police force has been subject to considerable discussion in recent years.

Commerce, Currency, and Infrastructure

Congress has the express power to regulate commerce, both with foreign nations and among the states, as well as with the Indian tribes. This is the Commerce Clause, which is frequently invoked in matters of trade. Where trade occurs between states, it is Congress that holds the power to regulate it. In the course of regulating trade with foreign nations, Congress has the power to sign or ratify trade agreements, in addition to setting duties and excises — a power expressly elaborated under the category of taxation. Within these commerce powers, Congress also holds the constitutional authority to coin money and regulate its value. Congress additionally standardizes weights and measures and addresses the problem of counterfeit currency. In practice, much of this responsibility falls to the Treasury today, but Congress is the body with the express constitutional rights to these particular functions.

Congress has several other powers outlined in Article 1, Section 8. It has the power to establish the post office and post roads, a provision generally interpreted as conferring a role in the development of national transportation infrastructure, even if the wording is somewhat archaic. Congress also has the power to regulate intellectual property under the clause promoting the progress of science and useful arts.

Although the judicial system is a distinct branch of government, Congress is the body given the power to create courts of lower authority than the Supreme Court. Thus, Congress is nominally — if not always practically — in charge of much of the lower court system, though today the judicial branch tends to operate with considerable independence.

The Constitution also grants Congress authority over certain aspects of physical infrastructure. Congress has the power to govern forts, arsenals, dockyards, and other areas critical to army and navy operations. Though the wording is archaic, these installations still exist today, and Congress retains constitutional authority over them. Additionally, a clause in the Constitution gives Congress express power over the naturalization process, effectively placing Congress in charge of citizenship law, as well as the authority to write and administer laws regarding bankruptcies. Such bankruptcy laws are important in the realm of commerce, and their inclusion in the Constitution ensures equal treatment under law for all Americans on this issue.

The above represents all of the expressed powers of Congress as elaborated by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. The 14th Amendment and Title 8 of the U.S. Code would later clarify some of the issues regarding citizenship — important because citizenship determines who is eligible to participate at the highest levels of the U.S. government (U.S. Constitution.net, 2015).

Conclusion

The expressed powers enumerated in Article 1, Section 8 form the constitutional foundation of Congressional authority, but the interpretation of those powers has shifted considerably over time. From the regulation of commerce and the coining of money to the raising of armies and the management of naturalization, Congress wields broad authority under the original text. The limitations in Section 9, along with the implied boundaries of unenumerated powers, provide a counterweight. The New Deal era demonstrated that constitutional interpretation is not static — it responds to historical circumstance and political will — and that the scope of federal legislative power continues to be debated and redefined.

References

U.S. Constitution. Retrieved October 4, 2015, from

U.S. Constitution.net. (2015). Constitutional topic: Citizenship. Retrieved October 4, 2015, from