Implied Powers

In addition to the express powers of the national government and its officers detailed in the Constitution, the national government exercises a wide range of implied powers. The legitimacy of these powers flows from the “General Welfare” clause in the Preamble, the “Necessary and Proper Clause,” and the “Commerce Clause.”

On the basis of these “clauses,” the Congress and the president have, for example, established a national bank, built an interstate highway system, established an Air Force and the Marines (note that the Constitution only authorizes an Army and a Navy), created the Social Security system, and enacted hundreds of laws regulating the conduct of commerce, or business, conducted between the states and their residents.

Limits of National Government Power

While the powers granted to the national government and its officers by the Constitution are impressive, the Constitution also includes important restrictions on the extent of those powers. Most notably, the Bill of Rights includes several limitations on governmental action. In particular, the Tenth Amendment declares that:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This amendment has been cited by supporters of states’ rights perhaps more than any other provision of the Constitution.

In addition to the limitations included in the Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 9 forbids the national government from:

• Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus
• Taxing items exported from any state
• Giving preference to one state over another in the regulation of commerce

The Congress is also required to publish a “regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money.”

Just as significantly, the national government is limited by the intricate system of checks and balances and auxiliary precautions built into the Constitutional system. No laws can be passed without the concurrence of both houses of Congress and the consent of the president. (A bill rejected by the president can be passed if two-thirds of the members of both houses vote to pass it over the objections of the president.) As noted, the war powers are exercised jointly by the president and the Congress. Executive and judicial branch officers can be impeached and removed from office. Members of Congress must regularly face reelection and be held accountable by the people they represent. By these and other means, the Framers of the Constitution deliberately created a system of government in which it is much easier to prevent action than it is to facilitate it.