What are amendment-enforcing powers?The power granted by certain amendments to the Constitution (e.g., the Fourteenth Amendment) authorizing Congress to pass legislation for the enforcement of the amendment.
What are enumerated powers?Powers explicitly delegated to Congress in Article I.
What is exclusion (from Congress)?The authority granted in Article I to each house of Congress to exclude from membership any individuals not legally selected or not meeting the required age, residency, and citizenship qualifications to hold congressional office.
Expulsion (from Congress)?The authority granted in Article I to each house of Congress to discipline sitting members for improper behavior by expelling them from Congress.


What are implied powers ?Powers appropriately exercised by Congress because they are reasonably implied from the enumerated powers. This allocation of authority is based on the Necessary and Proper Clause.
What are inherent powers?Powers flowing from the very nature of nationhood, such as the authority to conduct foreign policy.
What is mootness?A condition under which a dispute is no longer appropriate for court resolution because the issue has resolved itself or conditions have so changed that the court is unable to grant the requested relief. For example, a lawsuit for divorce becomes moot if the marriage ends due to the death of one of the parties.
What is a political question?An issue in a dispute that cannot be adequately resolved by a judicial determination of legal rights, but is more appropriately addressed by the legislative branch, the executive branch, or the electorate.


What are the Qualifications Clauses?The provisions in Article I of the Constitution that spell out the age, residency, and citizenship requirements to serve in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
What is the Reserved Powers Doctrine?A principle flowing from the Tenth Amendment that the federal government may only exercise those powers constitutionally delegated to it or reasonably implied. Other governmental powers are retained by or reserved to the states or the people.
What is the Speech or Debate Clause ?A provision in Article I that immunes members of Congress from legal action in response to anything said or done in the normal course of exercising their official responsibilities.
What is the Tenth Amendment?A provision of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, that declares that all powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people.


What are term limits?A statute or constitutional provision that places an upper limit on the number of years an individual may hold a particular political office.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Powell v. McCormack (1969)?Qualifications for being a U.S. Representative are outlined in Constitution. Congress cannot refuse to seat a duly elected member who meets these qualifications.
What did the Supreme Court hold in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1995)?A state cannot limit the number of terms a member of Congress can serve. The qualifications for holding a seat in Congress are outlined in the Constitution. A state cannot amend these qualifications on its own.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Gravel v. United States (1972)?Legislative deliberation must be protected. A senator's legislative aide is immune to prosecution pursuant to the Speech and Debate Clause for acts for which the Senator is immune. However, not everything an aide says or does is immune; the speech/conduct must be related to legislation.


What did the Supreme Court hold in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?Landmark case defining what the "necessary and proper" clause means. Congress may do those things which are appropriately adapted to carrying out enumerated powers and not prohibited by the Constitution. Necessary does not mean absolutely necessary. For example, Congress may charter a bank.
What did the Supreme Court hold in McGrain v. Daugherty (1927)?The implied powers of Congress include the right to conduct investigations and compel witnesses to testify. Congress needs the power to investigate in order to effectively legislate.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Watkins v. United States (1957)?Although Congress has implied power to conduct investigations, that power is not unlimited. Congress may not conduct investigations solely for personal aggrandizement or to punish the targets of its investigations; congressional investigations are invalid if unrelated to any legislative purpose.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Barenblatt v. United States (1959)?House Un-American Activities Committee may compel testimony on communist organizing pursuant to its implied power to conduct investigations in order to legislative in the area of national security.


What did the Supreme Court hold in United States v. Curtiss‐Wright Export Corp. (1936)?Congress has inherent authority to conduct international relations. This authority is not expressly enumerated in the Constitution because it was not conferred on Congress through ratification of the Constitution, but rather was secured when America declared independence from England and became a member of the family of nations.
What did the Supreme Court hold in South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966)?In addition to express, implied, and inherent powers, Congress may be empowered by Constitutional Amendments. In this case, the Fifteenth Amendment gave Congress the power to pass laws that protect the right to vote.