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Legislative Powers of Congress. Money Powers : Collect taxes & provide defense; borrow money; coin, print, & regulate money Commerce Powers : regulate trade Military & Foreign Policy Powers : declare war; raise, support, & regulate the armed forces & militia. Implied Powers. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Legislative Powers of Congress
Money Powers: Collect taxes & provide defense; borrow money; coin, print, & regulate money
Commerce Powers: regulate trade
Military & Foreign Policy Powers: declare war; raise, support, & regulate the armed forces & militia
Implied Powers Necessary & Proper
clause (i.e. the elastic clause): provide for all laws that might be necessary to carry out their expressed powers (all of the previous powers) Ex: establishing a bank
was necessary to carry out Congress’s money powers (McCulloch v. Maryland)
Checks on other Branches
SENATE: confirms appointments made by the President (checks the executive branch and the judicial branch)
HOUSE: can bring impeachment charges on the President (checks the executive branch) and court justices (checks the judicial branch) (the SENATE can try the impeachment case)
Both houses provide oversight (supervision) to find out how the executive branch is enforcing laws
Checks on Congress’s Power President must sign
bills into law after they are passed by both houses (can veto legislation)
Supreme Court determines whether congressional laws are constitutional & generally interprets & applies congressional laws
Constitutional Limits on Congress’s Power
Writ of habeas corpus: orders an accused person be brought before a judge and told why they are being held
Bill of attainder: Congress cannot pass a law that convicts a person of a crime without a trial
Ex post facto: means “after the fact”; Congress cannot punish someone for a past action by creating a new law against that action
Senate House of RepsEach state has 2
Senators; 100 total6 year termsRotating elections
(33 senators elected every 2 years)
at least 30 yrs old and a citizen for 9 yrs
• Representation is based on population (NC has 13 representatives); 435 total
• 2 year terms; re-elected every 2 years
• at least 25 yrs old and a citizen for 7 yrs
Basics of Congress
Basics of Congress The Senate was formed with 6 year terms
and rotating elections to create some stability in Congress
The House of Representatives was formed with 2 year terms and reelection every 2 years so that they would constantly be responsible to the people (the people can decide not to re-elect them if they don’t like them or their policies)
Speaker of the HouseLeader of the House of RepresentativesChosen by members of the majority party &
approved by the entire HouseLeads debates & persuades members of
Congress to support various issuesWill become President if something happens
to the President and Vice President
Other Congressional LeadersVice President: Presides over the Senate, but
only votes if there is a tiePresident Pro Tempore: president of the
Senate when the VP isn’t thereFloor leaders: speak for their party on
issues, push bills along, & try to sway votesMajority Whip & Minority Whip: help floor
leaders by making sure representatives are present for key votes
CommitteesCongress developed committees to deal with the
enormous numbers of bills (potential laws) they must consider Standing committees: permanent committees; Ex:
commerce Joint committees: committees that include members of
both houses & deal with a specific issue; Ex: taxation Select/special committees: temporary committees that
meet for a limited time; Ex: global warmingCongresspersons try to get appointed to
committees that are important to their constituents or others that may provide them experience to get re-elected
VocabularyConstituents: the people who are
represented by members of Congress (ex: we are Kay Hagan’s constituents)
Gerrymandering: drawing an oddly shaped district to increase the voting strength of a particular group (i.e. a political party)
Seniority: years of service; the congresspersons who have been in office the longest get the best committee assignments & have more influence
Bill of Rights PosterChoose an
Amendment (1-10) & create a poster.
Write the Amendment as it is written in the Constitution.
Describe the Amendment in your own words (use your Constitution notes).
Explain why the Amendment is important.
Illustrate the Amendment.