Legislative Powers

In this topic, you learned about the power of the legislative branch of government. The expressed powers of Congress are listed under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and include the following:

• the power to levy taxes;
• the power to borrow money;
• the power to regulate commerce; and
• the power to coin money.

One of the reasons the Articles of Confederation failed was the national government's inability to support itself financially. The framers delegated these economic powers to the national government under the Constitution specifically to avoid this issue. In addition to several more expressed powers, the framers also granted Congress implied powers under the "Necessary and Proper" clause. Knowing that they could not predict all of the needs of the government in the future, this clause essentially grants the legislative branch the necessary powers to properly exercise their expressed powers.

You also learned how Congress possesses the ability to check the power of the judicial branch and the executive branch. There are a few ways Congress exercises these checks on power, including impeachment. Congress may vote to charge a Supreme Court Justice, federal judge, or the President with a crime. If the individual charged is tried and found guilty, he or she may be removed from office before the end of that individual's term.