Congressional power

Question 1

what powers can congress exercise

Answer 1

enumerated powers in constitution

powers that are necessary and proper to carry out any of its enumerated powers

Question 2

where does congress have a general police power

Answer 2

federal lands, native reservations, DC

no general federal police power otherwise

Question 3

what does the necessary and proper clause allow?

Answer 3

congress can use any rational constitutional means to exercise an enumerated power

NOT supportive of a power on its own

Question 4

taxing and spending power

Answer 4

Congress has the power to tax and spend to provide for the general welfare.

Meaning: Taxing and spending may be for any public purpose not prohibited by the Constitution.

Question 5

main enumerated powers

Answer 5

taxing and spending powers

commerce power

Question 6

to what extent can congress impose conditions on grant of money to state or local governments?

Answer 6

(1) are clearly stated
(2) relate to the purpose of the program
(3) are not unduly coercive
and
(4) do not otherwise violate the Constitution.

Question 7

can congress legislate for the general welfare?

Answer 7

no

congress can only tax and spend for the general welfare

non spending regulations cannot be supported by the general welfare clause

Question 8

what is unduly coercive condition?

Answer 8

force states or governments to buy something

The Supreme Court found that it was unduly coercive for the fed- eral government to threaten to withhold current Medicaid funding to the states, which often accounts for more than 10% of state budgets, if the states refused to participate in a Medicaid expansion program

Question 10

what is the commerce power?

Answer 10

he power to regulate all foreign and interstate commerce, as well as commerce with Indian tribes

Question 11

what is interstate commerce?

Answer 11

1 - The channels of interstate commerce (for example, high- ways, waterways, telephone lines, the internet)

2 - The instrumentalities of interstate commerce (for exam- ple, planes, trains, automobiles) and persons and things in inter- state commerce

3 - Activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce

Question 12

to what extent can congress regulate intRAstate commerce?

Answer 12

Congress can regulate local ECONOMIC or COMMERCIAL activity [like growing of wheat or weed] if there is a rational basis on which Congress could conclude that the activity in the aggregate substantially affects interstate commerce.

NOT noneconomic or noncommercial activity

Question 13

if intrastate activity is noneconomic, what is the extent to which congress can regulate it?

Answer 13

Congress can regulate it only if it can show that the activity has a direct substantial economic effect on interstate commerce

which congress generally cannot do

Question 14

10th amendment limitation on regulation of intrastate activity

Answer 14

Tenth Amendment to precludes Congress from regulating noneconomic intrastate activity in areas traditionally regulated by state or local governments.

example: criminal law, schools
Ex: Criminal ban on possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of schools not allowed to be regulated by Congress

Question 15

can congress compel activities?

Answer 15

no

congress cannot regulate inactivity

Mandate to purchase individual health insurance is not allowed [but congress can tax]

Question 16

examples of what congress can and cannot regulate

Answer 16

Ban on discrimination at hotels and restaurants. Does this fall within Congress’s commerce power? YES

Criminal ban on possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of schools. Does this fall within Congress’s commerce power? NO

Criminal ban on possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of schools in connection with drug trafficking. Does this fall within Congress’s commerce power? YES

Question 17

how is the commerce clause a basis for civil rights laws?

Answer 17

almost any activity taken cumulatively might have a substantial effect on interstate commerce

Question 18

w/r to discrimination, what does the commerce power allow congress to do?

Answer 18

Congress may prohibit private discrimination in activities that might have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.

Contrast that with public discrimination (that is, by state or local governments), which Congress can directly regulate under its Fourteenth Amendment enforcement power

Question 19

what are the other powers of congress? (less tested)

Answer 19

(1) war

(2) investigatory power

(3) property power

(4) postal power

(5) power over citizenship

(6) admiralty power

(7) power to coin money and fix weights and measures

(8) patent/copyright power

Question 19

what are the other powers of congress? (less tested)

Answer 19

(1) war

(2) investigatory power

(3) property power

(4) postal power

(5) power over citizenship

(6) admiralty power

(7) power to coin money and fix weights and measures

(8) patent/copyright power

Question 20

to what extent can congress delegate legislative power over regular matters?

Answer 20

REGULAR MATTERS
Congress can delegate legislative power as long as it is cabined by intelligible standards and isn’t an exclusively congressional power (like impeachment)

Question 21

speech or debate clause does what

Answer 21

gives immunity for federal legislators

conduct that occurs in the regular course of the federal legislative process and motivation behind that conduct are immune from prosecution

Question 22

major questions doctrine

Answer 22

for matters of extraordinary economic and political significance, congress can delegate power to executive if

congress gives clear congressional authorization for the claimed power

and

the court will look at whether the agency has historically asserted such power

modest, vague, or subtle language can’t support a broad delegation of power.

Question 23

line item veto rule

Answer 23

no line item vetoes

giving the President the power to cancel parts of a bill while approving others is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power

president can only sign or veto bill, not amend bill because that is legislative power

Question 24

how must law be passed?

Answer 24

bicameralism – both houses

presentment – given to president to sign or veto

Question 25

congress removal power

Answer 25

Congress can remove executive officers only through the impeachment process

Congress can provide statutory limitations (for example, removal only for good cause) on the President’s power to remove executive appointees [not high level executive officers or heads of independent agencies who are sole directors and exercise lots of executive power]

Question 26

who has standing to challenge law authorizing president to exercise a line item veto?

Answer 26

members of congress lack standing to do this because the injury is institutional in that it is shared by all members of congress

Question 27

who lacks standing to challenge federal appropriations?

Answer 27

taxpayers

Question 28

who has power to regulate foreign commerce

Answer 28

congress

Question 29

what is the admiralty power

Answer 29

power to regulate all navigable waterways

Question 30

appointment clause powers

Answer 30

appointments clause permits congress to vest appointments of inferior officers only in the president, the courts, or the heads of departments

enforcement is an executive act, therefore, congress CANNOT appoint members of a commission that exercises enforcement powers