CHAPTER 5 CONGRESS: THE

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Section 1 & 2

Congress and The Powers of Congres

• 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 IdeaThe 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?

Section 1 at a GlanceCongress

Congress is the representative body through which the will of the people is made into law.

Congress and the People

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

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

Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Structure of Congress

The Senate•100 members•Each state represented by two senators•Senators serve six-year terms

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 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

The Structure of Congress {continued}

Congress and Checks and Balances

The Power of Advice and Consent•Senate must approve treaties negotiated by president •Senate has power to reject presidential appointees

The Power of the Purse •Only Congress can deny funding requests from executive branch•Through appropriation, Congress can prevent president from carrying out policies

Other Checks and Balances•Begins process of amending Constitution•Can override presidential veto of bill•Congressional oversight: broad powers of executive review

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”

• 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 IdeaThe 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?

Section 2 at a GlanceThe Powers of Congress

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.

Expressed Powers of Congress

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.

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

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

Defense-Related Powers•Framers granted Congress power to declare war•Congress retains power to raise army and navy and to provide for their funding

Expressed Powers of Congress

Clause 2:• To borrow money

Clause 1:• To levy taxes

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

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

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

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.

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

Implied Powers of Congress

The Necessary and Proper Clause Today• Has led to expanded federal authority over time

Powers Common to Both Houses• Propose const itutional amendments• Conduct investigations• Ability to issue subpoenas, documents that require person to testify

Nonlegislative Powers

Powers of the Senate•May choose vice president •Provides advice and consent on presidential appointments •Must approve treaties negotiated by president

Powers of the House •Under Twelfth Amendment, House can choose president if no candidate receives majority of electoral votes

• 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

Limits on the Powers 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

The Changing Power of Congress

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

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