The Powers of Congress

1. The Powers of Congress

2. Foreign Policy • The Federal government has greater powers in the field of foreign affairs than it does in any other area of public policy. • Remember the 50 states are not sovereign so they have no standing in international affairs. • The Constitution gives the President primary responsibility for the conduct of American foreign policy. • Even the Supreme Court ruled that he is the sole organ of the Federal Government in the field of international relations.

3. Congress and Foreign Policy • Still the Constitution does give Congress a significant place in foreign affairs. • This power comes from two places: • Expressed powers among which are the spending power, the power to regulate foreign commerce, and the war powers • The second place is from inherent powers. This means that: The United States is a sovereign nation and as the lawmaking body of that nation Congress has the right to act on matters of national security.

4. The War Powers • There are 27 expressed powers set out in Article I, Section 8 of the constitution that are given to Congress. • 6 of those deal explicitly with the subject of war and national defense. • Remember that the Constitution makes the President Commander and Chief of the Armed forces so Congress shares the power but this field is dominated by the President.

5. The War Powers • Even though the President dominates the decision making concerning the armed forces Congress still has substantial and extensive powers. • Congress can do the following: • Only Congress can declare war • It alone can raise and support an army, and navy as well as maintain them. (The House controls the funding for Congress and can pull funding from the armed forces.) • Congress also has the power to provide for “calling forth the Militia.” How does this apply today?

6. The Power to Tax • In 2009 the Federal government took in 2.2 trillion dollars in revenue. • 95% of that revenue came from taxes levied by Congress. • Congress does have limitations on taxing • Congress can’t tax Church services or lay a poll tax. • The Constitution also states that Congress can only tax for public purposes. Tax dollars can’t go to private sector things. • Congress can’t tax exports. • Any direct Tax has to be representative of the population. • A direct Tax would be a tax that you personally pay directly to the Federal Government. (Income Tax.) • All other Taxes are indirect. This means that the Tobacco company is taxed on Cigarettes and they turn around and charge the people who buy them extra to cover the tax. (Sales Tax)

7. Borrowing Power • Congress has the sole power to Borrow money. • There are no Constitutional limits on the amount of money Congress can borrow and no restrictions on what they borrow it for. • The Treasury does the actual borrowing. • The Treasury issues Treasury notes (T-notes) for short term borrowing and bonds for long term. • These are in effect IOU’s sent out on the credit of the United States. • Congress does have a debt ceiling. This is a limit on the amount of public debt that can be borrowed. • This is just a political gesture though. • Congress usually just votes to raise the ceiling when the debt threatens to overtake it. • http://video.foxnews.com/v/1834929539001/moody-puts-pressure-on-congress-for-debt-deal

8. Origins of the Debt • Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President that started deficit spending. • It was the height of the Great Depression and everyone wanted a solution. • Roosevelt began the idea of deficit spending. • Spending more than you take in. • He took the United States off the Gold Standard and encouraged Congress to spend more than it took in each year and borrow to make up the difference.

9. The Bankruptcy Power • A bankrupt individual or company is one a federal court has found to be insolvent. • This means that they are unable to pay their loans or debts. • Bankruptcy is the legal proceeding in which the bankrupt’s assets, however much or little, are distributed among those people or companies to whom he owes a debt. • After that all debts are forgiven. • The States and the Federal Government share power in this matter but Bankruptcy law today all but excludes the States.

10. The Currency Power • The Constitution gives congress the sole power to coin (print) money and regulate the monetary system of the United States. • Before the Revolution the Schilling and the Pound from Britain were the currency used in the Country. • After the Revolution the continental congress and the first Congress under the Articles issued paper money but with no backing. • This essentially made the money worthless because each state was also printing their money and didn’t honor the money from any other states.

11. Currency • All the framers agreed on the need for a single national currency. • The put together a single hard currency and barred the states from printing their own money. • The official paper currency wasn’t issued until 1862 and it is what we have in effect today. • What gave the money it’s value early on was that all money was backed by gold and silver. • You could take one dollar to the bank and trade it in for one dollar worth of gold. • Today we are no longer on the gold standard. • Nothing backs the dollar.

12. Domestic Powers • Congress has several domestic powers: • Judicial power • Congress can form any federal court it deems necessary below the Supreme Court • Congress sets standards for weights and measures • Congress has the power to acquire, manage, and dispose of various federal areas like territories.

13. Impeachment • This is a non-legislative power because it is a power given to Congress in the constitution but does not concern any type of legislation. • The Constitution provides that the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States may “be removed from office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. • Now it is obvious that the framers meant serious crimes but none the less this has been used for political means.

14. Impeachment • The House alone has the power to level charges of crimes against the President. • At the same time the Senate alone has the power to put the President on trial. • To date no President has ever been voted out of office but several have come close. • Can you name one?

15. Richard Nixon • Richard Nixon probably would’ve been the first President to be impeached. • However he resigned. • Nixon was on trial because several of his aids broke into the Democratic National Headquarters during election season in 1972. • They broke in to see what information the Democrats had on the President. • They were caught and evidence mounted against Nixon including several missing minutes on the tapes that recorded everything Nixon did in the Oval Office during his Presidency. • Instead of standing trial in the Senate Nixon resigned and was then pardoned by Vice President, now President, Gerald Ford.

16. More Non-legislative powers • Again this means powers that don’t have anything to do with legislation. • Congress has several electoral duties. • If the electoral college produces a tie or a situation where no candidate reaches the 270 vote mark each member of the House casts one voter for the President. • Similarly the Senate chooses the Vice President. • This has only ever happened twice for the President and once for Vice President.

17. Appointments • This is another non-legislative power. • All major appointments by the President are approved by congress. • Each appointment is referred to the correct committee of the Senate and each committee chooses rather or not to approve the appointment. • Only 12 of more than 600 appointments made by the President have actually been rejected. • More often than not nominations are approved or the President withdraws them if they feel Congress won’t accept them.

18. The Power to Investigate • This is another non-legislative power. • Congress has the power to investigate any matter that falls within the scope of its lawmaking authority. • Either House of Congress can investigate a number of things for a number of reasons. • Usually it is done to gather information for legislation or most of the time to oversee the operations of various agencies in the executive branch.

19. The Necessary and Proper Clause • Remember this clause in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution says: • Congress has the expressed power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. • Basically Congress has an open door to make laws necessary for running the government. (Implied Powers)

20. Things to Remember • While the President is the spearhead of American foreign policy Congress has certain powers here. • Congress can declare war and regulate foreign trade and commerce. • Congress has the power to: • Tax and the majority of revenue to the Government is in the form of taxes. • Congress may only tax for public sector benefit. • Only Congress can coin money and regulate monetary policy. • Only Congress may Impeach the President or other members of the executive branch. • Congress has the ability to investigate any matter that falls within the scope of it’s law making abilities. • The Necessary and Proper Clause says that Congress has the power to make all laws necessary and Proper for running the Federal Government.