Enumerated powers (United States)

The enumerated powers (also called expressed powers, explicit powers or delegated powers) of the United States Congress are the powers granted to the federal government of the United States by the United States Constitution. Most of these powers are listed in Article I, Section 8.

In summary, Congress may exercise the powers that the Constitution grants it, subject to the individual rights listed in the Bill of Rights. Moreover, the Constitution expresses various other limitations on Congress, such as the one expressed by the Tenth Amendment: "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."

Historically, Congress and the Supreme Court have broadly interpreted the enumerated powers, especially by deriving many implied powers from them.[1] The enumerated powers listed in Article One include both exclusive federal powers, as well as concurrent powers that are shared with the states, and all of those powers are to be contrasted with reserved powers that only the states possess.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, UMKC". Archived from the original on 2010-06-27. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  2. ^ Gardbaum, Stephen. "Congress's Power to Pre-Empt the States", Pepperdine Law Review, Vol. 33, p. 39 (2005).
  3. ^ Bardes, Barbara et al. American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials (Cengage Learning, 2008).