Classifying the Powers of Congress
The following is a list of actions that Congress might take. Use the following letters to classify each
action. Where in the Constitution is the support for your answer? List the article, section, and clause.
E = Expressed Power (Numerated Powers- Section 8)
I = Implied Power (Elastic Clause)
D = Powers denied to Congress
1.
_______ Declare war on another country.
2.
_______ Create and collect taxes in order to finance the operations of government.
_______ Decide that prisoner Lindsay Lohan will not be allowed to appear in at her
court hearing.
3.
4.
_______ Purchase an island in the Caribbean (can you say “beach front property?”).
5.
_______ Regulate both foreign and domestic trade.
6.
_______ Borrow money to help finance the government.
_______ Make it a federal crime to transport a kidnapped person across state lines, because the
transportation would be an act of interstate activity.
7.
8.
_______ Determine how aliens may become U.S. citizens.
_______ Make a law declaring provocative dancing illegal, and then arrest Rhianna for
videos she made before the law was created.
9.
10.
_______ Give Chuck Norris a Title of Nobility (Sir Chuck!).
11.
_______ Provide a patent to the inventor of paperclips.
12.
_______ Provide for and maintain the military.
13.
_______ Copyright Lady Gaga’s music.
14.
_______ Hire architects and contractors to build a Federal post office.
15.
_______ Tax the ports in Maine at a higher rate than the ports in New York.
16.
_______ Create lower federal courts that function beneath the Supreme Court.
17.
_______ Set a limit on the number of people who may enter the U.S.
18.
_______ Impeach and try a President for lying under oath. (Naughty naughty!)
19.
_______ Go Postal… as in establish and maintain the postal service.
20.
_______ Declare that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have too many kids.