Hello and welcome to this weekÕs episode of the Civic Flame where we run headlong into civic education y exploring the US Constitution. This week weÕll be getting into Article 1, sections 7 and 8, and looking at the legislative process and the powers of the US Congress. As we come to you, Congress is still shut down and the White House has indicated that until Congress re-opens SNAP benefits will not go out. In the meantime, letÕs talk about what Congress should be doing, at least according to the US Constitution. (intro) Article 1 has done a serious job talking about the structure of Congress and how old people have to be or what terms look like. Now, we get into the process and powers. Section 7 says: ÒAll Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.Ó This basically means that anything with money has to start in the House. As the legislative branch, itÕs on these folks to write the laws. The next part talks about presidential vetos. What it says is that when a bill passes the House and the Senate (remember they have to be the same and both chambers have to pass it), then it goes to the presidentÕs desk. If the president is happy (or knows the bill is really popular) then they sign it. If they refuse to sign it, this is called a veto. There are two ways to do this: one is to outright refuse to sign it and send it back, the other is what is called a pocket veto and basically just put it in a drawer for ten days (not including Sunday). However, if Congress really gets its stuff together, it can override a presidential veto. But to do this you need 2/3 vote in each house of congress. You can imagine how unlikely that is. In fact, according to Congress.gov, of the 2,576 vetos in US history, only 111 have been overridden, giving them a 4.3% chance of success. Not ideal. You could figure out which president vetoed the most stuff, but youÕd have to do more work than I want to. Everyone says is was FDR, and in whole numbers, this is true. But remember that he was elected to four terms and is the only president to have served that long (because after that we got the 22nd Amendment which limited the president to two terms or a maximum of 10 years). So, if you want to take the number of vetoes per president divided by years in office and let me know what you come up with, IÕll share that widely. If you donÕt, I get it. Me neither. But thatÕs the basic legislative process, though I suppose ÒIÕm just a BillÓ from SchoolHouse Rock pretty much covers it. Now that section 7 is over, itÕs time to buckle up campers because this next section is a doozy. Section eight is where we get the enumerated powers. Enumerated just means numbered, or in this case listed. These are explicit (outright stated) powers that Congress has. Remember that our Constitution is our second constitution. So, a lot of what its reacting to are failures from the Articles of Confederation (our first Constitution). You see this a lot in the enumerated powers. This starts with the biggest issues with the Articles of Confederation: no power to tax people meant to government had no money. So the first clause in section 8 has to do with taxes and says: ÒThe Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;Ó Basically, they can collect cash to do public goods kind of stuff like defense and general welfare (remember back to the preamble that this was an issue). But they have to be uniform, meaning they canÕt be more or less in any part of this country. This has been litgated a lot with progressive tax issues or corporate tax issues or taxes at the state level. That is well beyond my area, so youÕll have to check out Crash Course economic on yuotube/pbs or Robert Reich on substack to get more into that. The next two sections also deal with money: ÒTo 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;Ó Oh, the Commerce Clause. The commerce clause has been used to do a lot of stuff because once commerce crosses state lines, that means itÕs federal and the federal government can say stuff about it. You can imagine how different this looks today in a nation with airplane and highways and the intert than it did during the Founding time with horses and footpaths. Lots of fights here. Lots and lots of fights here. If you want to both understand the scope and development of US interstate commerce clause and really put youself to sleep, check out the railroad cases in the 1800s. As commerce and movement became more interconnected there were really serious questions about states rights. After the 14th Amendment required due process and equal protection for all persons in the US, this became a real question. If the 14th Amendment sets a floor on what equal protection is that no state can go below, then how much does interstate commerce expand the power of the federal government? Well, these developments along with the New Deal in the 1930 argue: a lot. Others would argue itÕs all overreach. The real answer is, somewhere in the middle and not something that can be decided once and for all time. Next up enumerated powers give Congress the ability to ÒTo 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;Ó Remember when I mentioned the Articles of Cofederation? Yeah, one big issue was that the states could print their own money. Not like, ideal if you want to have economic security. Plus, in some states this could lead to fights about whose money was worth what. There are a lot of legitimate complaints about the FED (aka the US Federal Reserve) but one thing it did was standardize and stabilize our currency to allow the almost century of economic prosperity where the US was the largest reserve currency around the world (reserve currencies are basically reserved or saved by banks to offset or minimize risks. ThereÕs a few semesters more of education on this issue, but basically banks need to have a safety net of cash they donÕt spend, especially on international transactions, and that is the reserve currency. Since 1944, the US dollar has been the most common reserve currency in the world bringing with it both blessings and curses, but for sure offering some financial stability (though there are some thoughts on that about the GFC of 2008, which weÕll get into another time). Along with the money and basic logistical stuff Congress gets the power ÒTo provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads;Ó IÕm going to say right now that I have massive support for the United States Postal Service. They are a vital national resource and should be protected from nonsense at all costs. Cogress also has some power over science and arts which is why they could use programs in the New Deal like the Federal Theatre program or today like th National endowment for the arts. ÒTo 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;Ó They have one of those checks and balances on the supreme court: ÒTo constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;Ó But they also have control of trials that have to do with the military, thatÕs why Congress basically writes the UCMJ and may courts martial are under Article 1 (congress) and not article 3 (courts) They also have the power to ÒTo define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;Ó So Congress has the power to declare war, which surprises some people. WeÕll talk a lot more about this when we talk about how the powers of the presidency have expanded beyond the original constitutional intent. One thin to remember here is that Congress has control of the money, so whomever the public thinks has war powers, remember that the boots, bullets, and bandaids money that you need still has to come with some amount of Congressional approval. Speaking of military, Congress has the power to ÒTo 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;Ó (go Navy! ThatÕs not in there, but I love the Navy and the Coast Guard.. I used to teach at the Naval Academy and IÕm from a Navy family). Congress has the power ÒTo 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;Ó Militia in this case means the National Guard, as was common language during the time. Remember tht the federal military is traditionally not legally allowed to operate within the borders of the United States unless insurrection has been declared. So, in order to have a deployable for emergency situations, Congress has some power over the state militias, though the president has more power in that arena. Likewise with CongressÕ war powers they get ÒTo 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;Ó And they get some federal control over what would become Washington, DC: ÒTo 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, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;Ó\ Okay, now weÕre getting to the last big part :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.Ó This last section is known as the Ònecessary and proper clause.Ó This clause has a had a lot of ink spilled over it. What does it mena necessary and what does it mean proper? Does it have to mean BOT necedsary and proper, or can it be necessary OR proper? We kind of have consensus on the Òcarringing into execution the foregoing powersÓ to mean those enumerated powers we talked about. But what aout all the other powers vested by the Constitiuon? It gets tough with Congress, obviously, taking an expansive view, and the other branches sometimes wanting to restrict them. Overall, there are about as many questions as there are answers. And thatÕs basically government for ya. (outro) Okay, we are almost done with Congress. Next week weÕll take a look at the powers forbidden to Congress and a few things the state canÕt do. In the meantime, keep a sharp eye out for our campfire on SNAP programs, and keep taking bets on when and whether the government will open back up and who is going to get paid in the meantime (Congress for sure!) Until we meet again, take care of yourselves out there and keep the civic flame burning bright. (outro) This episode of the civic flame was brought to you by Dr Fun Sponge Media, a collaboration between creator Amber Vayo and sound producer Matthew Munyon. As always, thanks for listening.