Necessary and Proper Clause
The Founders’ words were not “meaningless” or “vague”
A common accusation, especially from liberal academics and judges, is that many constitutional phrases are vague or meaningless. Or, as stated by former Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, they are “luminous and obscure.” Advocates of an all-powerful central...
Is Court Packing Constitutional?
One of the major issues in the run-up to the election was whether Democrats planned to follow-through on threats to pack the Supreme Court in response to President Trump’s appointment of three justices. As Republican control of the Senate appears more and more likely,...
Why McCulloch v. Maryland – now 200 years old – is not a “big government” manifesto
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in McCulloch v. Maryland. In that case, Chief Justice John Marshall upheld Congress’s power to charter a national bank—a distant forerunner of the modern Federal Reserve System. Nearly all...
New evidence on the meaning of the Necessary and Proper Clause
The Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) provides: The Congress shall have Power . . . To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this...