Article i, section 8, of the constitution, describes these 17 powers of congress

Short Version -- This is a summary of the important issues covered in this section of the U.S. Constitution. 

• Congress can lay and collect taxes
• Congress can borrow money
• Congress can regulate national and international trade
• Congress can establish rules for naturalization and bankruptcy laws
• Congress can coin money
• Congress can set the standard for weights and measures
• Congress can punish counterfeiters
• Congress can establish post offices and post roads
• Congress can grant patents to inventors and copyrights to authors
• Congress can set up federal courts
• Congress can punish piracy and crimes committed at sea
• Congress can declare war
• Congress can raise and upport armies
• Congress can provide and maintain a navy
• Congress can make rules for the government of land and sea forces
• Congress can call on the militia (National Guard) to put down rebellion and invasion and to enforce the laws
• Congress can help organize, arm, and discipline the militia
• Congress can exercise control over the District of Columbia and over other federal property
• Congress can make all laws necessary for carrying out its Constitutional powers

Long Version -- This is the text of the Actual U.S. Constitution. 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

• To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
• To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
• To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
• To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
• To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
• To establish post offices and post roads;
• To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
• To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
• To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
• To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
• To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
• To provide and maintain a navy;
• To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
• To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
• To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
• To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;

And To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

The legislative powers of the United States Congress are explicitly stated in the Constitution. Article I Section I states “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives”. The enumerated powers of Congress are laid in out in Section 8 of the Article I. The eighteen enumerated powers are explicitly stated in Article I, Section 8.

Enumerated Powers of Congress

1. Power to tax and spend for the general welfare and the common defense.
2. Power to borrow money.
3. To regulate commerce with states, other nations, and Native American tribes.
4. Establish citizenship naturalization laws and bankruptcy laws
5. Coin money
6. Power to punish counterfeiters of money and stocks
7. Power to establish post offices and roads
8. Power to regulate patents and copyrights
9. Power to establish lower courts from the Supreme Court
10. Power to establish piracy laws of the sea
11. To declare war
12. Power to raise and support Army
13. Provide and maintain the Navy
14. Make rules for the Government and regulation of naval forces
15. Power to call a militia (National Guard today)
16. Power of regulating a militia
17. Power to govern the District of Columbia and properties for federal government purposes
18. Authority to create laws that are necessary and proper to carry out the laws of the land (Necessary and Proper Clause)

Necessary and Proper Clause

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 is known as the Necessary and Proper Clause which gives Congress the authority to create any laws that are necessary and proper to carry out the enumerated powers of the Constitution. The Necessary and Proper clause has been up for interpretation since the writing of the Constitution. A Supreme Court case that challenged the clause was McCollough v. Maryland (1819). The court ruled that the Necessary and Proper clause gave Congress the implied power to create a second national bank in Maryland and the state could not tax the bank.

Another Congressional power that is explicitly stated in the Constitution was the impeachment powers in Article I, Section 2 and 3. Congress has the authority to impeach a sitting President in office. The impeachment process is as such, the House of Representatives brings articles of impeachment against the official and then the Senate is responsible for the impeachment trial. In order to impeach a sitting President, the Senate must vote two-thirds. Article III, Section 3 gives Congress the authority to decide on the punishment of treason.

In conclusion, the Founding Fathers explicitly stated the powers of Congress in the Constitution in order to solidify that the power of the government comes from the people. The Constitution is a protected document that has been interpreted since its writing. The powers of Congress were laid out in order to establish our government for the people, by the people.

Interested in a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science?

Earn your online bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university that has been an online education leader for more than 15 years. Complete the form to learn more about how you can earn your bachelor’s in political science and pick up in-demand emphasis areas and certificates along the way, giving yourself a competitive edge in the job market. Contact us today to get started.

References

The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. (2018, December 18). Retrieved February 27, 2019, from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

By: Angie Kirby, EKU Graduate Assistant