Necessary and Proper Clause

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constitutional clause federal constitutional law concept provision of the United States Constitution

The Necessary and Proper Clause is a provision in the U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the authority to enact laws needed to execute its enumerated powers, forming the basis for implied federal powers.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (7)

Surface form	Occurrences
necessary and proper clause	2
Elastic Clause	1
Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)	1
Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8	1
Necessary and Proper Clause of the U.S. Constitution	1
The Powers Delegated by the Proposed Constitution to the Federal Government Are Few and Defined	1
necessary and proper clause doctrine	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	constitutional clause ⓘ federal constitutional law concept ⓘ provision of the United States Constitution ⓘ
adoptedIn	1787 ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ surface form: Elastic Clause Sweeping Clause ⓘ
appliesTo	United States Congress ⓘ
associatedWithDoctrine	enumerated powers doctrine ⓘ federalism ⓘ implied powers doctrine ⓘ necessary and proper test ⓘ
authoritativeInterpreter	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
basisFor	doctrine of implied powers ⓘ implied powers of Congress ⓘ
cameIntoForceOn	1789-03-04 ⓘ
category	United States constitutional clauses ⓘ
citedIn	The Federalist No. 33 ⓘ The Federalist No. 44 ⓘ
controversy	limits on implied powers ⓘ scope of federal legislative power ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
debatedAt	Constitutional Convention ⓘ surface form: Constitutional Convention of 1787
draftedBy	Framers of the United States Constitution ⓘ
foundIn	Article I of the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution
governs	means Congress may choose to implement its powers ⓘ
grantsPowerTo	United States Congress ⓘ
interpretedAs	allowing means plainly adapted to legitimate constitutional ends ⓘ not requiring absolute necessity ⓘ
interpretedBy	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
legalSystem	United States federal law ⓘ surface form: United States law
locatedAfter	list of enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8 ⓘ
majorCase	Gonzales v. Raich ⓘ McCulloch v. Maryland ⓘ United States v. Comstock ⓘ United States v. Darby ⓘ
opposedBy	some Anti-Federalists ⓘ
partOf	Article I of the United States Constitution ⓘ
purpose	to enable Congress to carry into execution its enumerated powers ⓘ to provide flexibility in federal legislative power ⓘ
relatedTo	Commerce Clause ⓘ Supremacy Clause ⓘ
relatesTo	enumerated powers of Congress ⓘ
supportedBy	many Federalists ⓘ
textBeginsWith	"To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper" ⓘ
usedToJustify	creation of the First Bank of the United States ⓘ federal criminal laws implementing other powers ⓘ federal regulatory schemes linked to commerce power ⓘ

Referenced by (28)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Necessary and Proper Clause → alsoKnownAs → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: Elastic Clause

U.S. Constitution in Treasury activities → basedOn → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

establishment of the First Bank of the United States → constitutionalBasisClaimed → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

John Marshall Court → constitutionalFocus → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Gonzales v. Raich → constitutionalProvision → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

United States v. Comstock → constitutionalProvision → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

McCulloch v. Maryland → constitutionalProvisionInterpreted → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

NFIB v. Sebelius → constitutionalProvisionInterpreted → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

United States v. Lopez → constitutionalProvisionInterpreted → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Printz v. United States → constitutionalProvisionInvolved → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution → contains → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)

United States Constitution → contains → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Article I of the United States Constitution → containsClause → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Commerce Clause → contrastedWith → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

The Federalist No. 44 → discusses → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Enforcement Clause → distinguishedFrom → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Taxing and Spending Clause → distinguishedFrom → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States → follows → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: The Powers Delegated by the Proposed Constitution to the Federal Government Are Few and Defined

United States constitutional law → includesDoctrine → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: necessary and proper clause doctrine

First Bank of the United States → legalBasis → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: Necessary and Proper Clause of the U.S. Constitution

The Federalist No. 33 → mainSubject → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: necessary and proper clause

McCulloch v. Maryland → reinforcedClause → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8

Commerce Clause → relatedProvision → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution → relatedTo → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution → relatedTo → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

substantial effects doctrine → relatedTo → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

United States federal law → sourceOfAuthority → Necessary and Proper Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: necessary and proper clause