Friday, April 17, 2015

Constitution Corner: All Legislative Powers

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Article I of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Legislative Branch of the U.S. Government. Article I, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution establishes the two Houses of Congress, and grants all legislative powers to the U.S. Congress.

The clause reads: All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Legislative powers are the ability to make law, modify law, repeal law, and anything else that has to do with affecting law. All legislative powers given to the federal government must be administered by Congress. This is a part of a concept known as a Separation of Powers.

The Executive Branch and Judicial Branch are not vested with any legislative powers. Regulations by federal departments that change or initiate laws are unconstitutional. Judicial rulings that modify or strike down laws are unconstitutional. Executive Orders, when they affect the law, are also unconstitutional. Executive Orders are legal when they are proclamations, or internal rules for the Executive Branch. The Thanksgiving Proclamation by George Washington, for example, was a constitutional executive order.

The powers the federal government has were granted by the States. Therefore, if the federal government acts in a manner that is not consistent with the contract between the States and the U.S. Government, the States have the option to ignore, and refuse to implement, those unconstitutional actions by the federal government. This action of ignoring unconstitutional law is the States’ way of acting in a manner consistent with being the final arbiters of the Constitution. The term for this kind of action by a State is “nullification.”

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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