Implied Powers

Written By Jonathan Milner

AP US Government and Politics

In the United States federal government, implied powers refer to those powers exercised by Congress that are not expressly granted to it by the Constitution, but are deemed “necessary and proper” for executing those constitutionally granted powers. This "Necessary and Proper Clause" (sometimes also called the "Elastic Clause") grants Congress a set of so-called implied powers—that is, powers not explicitly named in the Constitution but assumed to exist due to their being necessary to implement the expressed powers that are named in Article I. Congress is granted a very specific set of powers in Article I of the Constitution, known as “expressed” or “enumerated” powers, which are the basis for American federalism — the division and sharing of powers among the federal and state governments.

In a historic example of implied powers, President George Washington asked Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to defend the First Bank of the United States when Congress created the bank in 1791 over the objections of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Edmund Randolph. In a classic argument for implied powers, Hamilton argued that a government’s sovereign duties implied that it reserved the right to use whatever powers it deemed necessary to fulfill those duties. In addition, Hamilton argued that the “general welfare” and “necessary and proper” clauses of the Constitution gave the document its elasticity. President Washington signed the banking bill after being convinced by Hamilton’s argument. In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court upheld a bill passed by Congress creating the Second Bank of the United States based on Hamilton’s 1791 argument. As the Constitution grants Congress certain implied powers beyond those explicitly stated, Marshall argued that Congress had the right to establish the bank.

If the U.S. Congress did not have the use of implied powers our government would be much smaller and unable to ride the roller coaster.

Can Treasury Mint $1 Trillion Coin?

Fun Fact

Questions

IMPLIED POWERS

  1. What is the connection between implied powers and the Necessary and Proper Clause?

  2. Would the P.O.T.U.S. benefit from deleting Article I, Section 8?

  3. What early landmark Supreme Court case dealt with the constitutionality of implied powers?

  4. What do you think implied powers means?

  5. Use implied powers in a sentence:

  6. Think of an example of implied powers in current events:

  7. Find an image of implied powers:

  8. What is the relationship between expressed powers and implied powers?

  9. What is the relationship between implied powers and McCulloch v. Maryland?

  10. What would have happened if McCulloch v. Maryland had been decided the other way?

AP Studio Art - Now draw Expressed Powers. Take 10 or 20 seconds. That’s all you need. Nothing fancy. Don’t expect a masterpiece. Draw with symbols or stick figures if you wish or just cut and paste images that work. Now Look at your drawing. Say the name of the term. You’ve got it. That’s all.

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Jonathan Milner

Civics Maven!

https://www.gopopro.com/
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