The Enumerated Powers of Congress

The framers had just escaped a king who claimed whatever power he wanted. So Article I, Section 8 spells out exactly what Congress can do, instead of leaving it to guess or tradition. Group the list by theme and it gets manageable: money powers (tax, borrow, coin currency, spend for the general welfare), war powers (declare war, raise and support an army and navy, make rules for the military), and commerce powers (regulate trade with foreign nations, among the states, and with tribes). Anything not on a list like this, or reasonably implied by it, isn't a power Congress has.

The two chambers aren't interchangeable even though both are Congress. Only the House can originate revenue bills and initiate impeachment. Only the Senate ratifies treaties and confirms presidential appointments, both by a two-thirds or majority vote depending on the action. These splits came from the same compromise that gave states equal footing in the Senate but population-based power in the House, so money and impeachment start where the people's representatives sit, while treaties and confirmations need the chamber built to represent states.

Enumerated powers don't vanish just because Congress stops using the most formal version of them. No declared war since 1942 doesn't mean Congress gave up its war power; it still funds the military and passes authorizations for use of force, which do the same practical work. The commerce power shows the same pattern in court. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) read the Necessary and Proper Clause broadly, letting enumerated powers stretch to cover implied ones, like chartering a national bank. United States v. Lopez (1995) pulled back, striking down a gun law near schools because it reached too far from actual interstate commerce. Together they mark the power's outer edge.