{"id":14575,"date":"2020-09-11T20:39:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-12T00:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=14575"},"modified":"2020-09-23T09:32:42","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T13:32:42","slug":"the-necessary-and-proper-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-necessary-and-proper-clause\/","title":{"rendered":"The Necessary and Proper Clause Lets Congress Adapt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the Necessary and Proper Clause? How does Federalist 44 support it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Necessary and Proper Clause is a part of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to enact what’s needed to get things done. It’s meant to be adaptable, not tyrannical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Federalist 44 and what it said about the Necessary and Proper Clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Necessary and Proper Clause<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In enumerating the purposes <\/em>of the federal government under the new Constitution, Publius<\/a> also took care to make explicit the powers <\/em>necessary to achieve them in Federalist 44.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution states that Congress has the power to enact all \u201cnecessary and proper\u201d laws to enforce the powers it is granted. Opponents of the Constitution believed that this clause gave tyrannical power to Congress, but it did nothing of the kind. Rather, the very idea of establishing a government made the Necessary and Proper Clause self-evident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be nonsensical to create a plan<\/a> for a government and assign to it specific powers (say, to raise an army or collect taxes) without giving it the means to enforce those powers. That’s where the Necessary and Proper Clause fits, according to Federalist 44. It was also the right decision not to specifically enumerate the powers either assigned to or withheld from the federal government under this clause. Explicitly listing the powers granted to the government would have implied that it lacked <\/em>those powers not enumerated; explicitly listing those denied it would have implied that it possessed <\/em>all the powers not <\/em>denied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The framers of the Constitution could not have known how society and law would develop over time<\/strong>; overly constraining or empowering the government by listing specific powers could have the effect of making it difficult for it to respond to future situations. Instead, it was better to let future politicians, judges, and citizens determine the specific scope of federal power with the Necessary and Proper Clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Necessity of the New Constitution<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As we\u2019ve seen, the proposed Constitution was a controversial issue at the time of The Federalist Papers<\/em>. Opponents raised various objections against it, although many of these individual objections contradicted each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n