Article One of the United States Constitution

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Article One of the United States Constitution

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Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of the federal government, the United States Congress. The Congress is a bicameral legislature consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate

Section 1: Legislative power vested in Congress

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.

Section 1 gives federal legislative power exclusively to Congress.^[1] Similar clauses are found in Articles II and III. The former gives executive power to the President. The latter grants judicial power to the federal judiciary. These three articles create a separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government.^[a] The separation of powers was intended to limit Congress to making law, the President to enforcing the law and the courts as interpreting the law in different cases.^[3]

There is no provision in the Constitution that gives Congress the power to investigate.^[4] However, before the adoption of the Constitution, assemblies| in the American colonies exercised that power. Before them, the British Parliament had investigative powers.^[4] Congress has always considered it an implicit power in the Constitution. In McGrain v. Daugherty (1927), the Supreme Court held that Congress did have the power to investigate.^[5]

1. ↑ "Article 1". Law.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Separation of Powers". Exploring Constitutional Conflicts. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
3. ↑ Charles R. Kesler. "What Separation of Powers Means for Constitutional Government". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "CRS Annotated Constitution". Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
5. ↑ "McGrain v. Daugherty". IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Retrieved 7 March 2016.