The Constitution & Amendments

In Simple, Modern English

Section 1 gives the legislative powers granted by the Constitution to a two-chamber Congress.

Sections 2-3 organize the House and Senate, their qualifications, elections, and impeachment roles.

Sections 4-6 set election and meeting rules, internal procedures, pay, and protections for legislative debate.

Section 7 requires bills to pass both chambers and go to the president, with a veto override available.

Section 8 lists Congress's powers and lets it enact laws necessary and proper to carry them out.

Sections 9-10 prohibit certain federal and state actions.

Important Clauses & Details

Sections 1-2: House of Representatives

The House is elected every two years. Members must be at least 25, have seven years of U.S. citizenship, and live in their state when elected. A census occurs every ten years; seats are apportioned by population, with at least one per state. Governors call elections for vacancies. The House chooses its Speaker and has the sole power to impeach.

Section 3: Senate

Each state has two senators serving staggered six-year terms. Senators must be at least 30, have nine years of citizenship, and live in their state when elected. The vice president breaks tied Senate votes. The Senate tries impeachments; conviction requires two-thirds of senators present, and the Chief Justice presides at a president's trial.

Sections 4-6: Running Congress

States initially regulate congressional elections, subject to congressional authority to alter the rules. Each chamber judges its members' elections and qualifications, sets rules, keeps a journal, and may expel a member by two-thirds vote. A majority is a quorum. Legislative speech and debate receive special protection; holding a federal office and a congressional seat simultaneously is prohibited.

Section 7: Bills, vetoes, and revenue

Revenue bills start in the House, though the Senate may amend them. Both chambers must pass a bill before presenting it to the president. A veto can be overridden by two-thirds in each chamber. After ten days, excluding Sundays, an unsigned bill becomes law unless an adjournment prevents its return: that is a pocket veto.

Section 8: Enumerated powers

Congress may tax and spend for defense and general welfare, borrow, regulate foreign/interstate/tribal commerce, establish naturalization and bankruptcy rules, coin money, set weights and measures, punish counterfeiting, provide postal services, protect authors and inventors for limited times, create lower federal courts, punish maritime offenses, declare war, fund armed forces, regulate and call the militia, and govern the capital and federal installations.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Congress may choose appropriate means to execute its listed powers and other constitutional powers. This supports implied powers, but does not give Congress unlimited authority to legislate on any subject.

Section 9: Federal limits

Habeas corpus, the process for challenging detention, may be suspended only when rebellion or invasion and public safety require it. Congress may not impose bills of attainder (legislative punishments without trial) or ex post facto laws (retroactive criminal laws), tax state exports, or favor one state's ports. Direct taxes generally require population-based apportionment, with the 16th Amendment's income-tax exception. Treasury spending needs a legal appropriation and public accounting. The federal government cannot grant nobility; federal officeholders need congressional consent for specified gifts or benefits from foreign states.

Section 10: State limits

States cannot make treaties, coin money, pass bills of attainder or retroactive criminal laws, impair contract obligations, or grant nobility. Certain import/export taxes, interstate or foreign compacts, peacetime troops, and war activity require congressional consent, with stated exceptions.

Where to look: Article 1

Article 1: Congress, its two chambers, legislative powers, and limits on Congress and the states.

Commerce Clause — Article I, Section 8, Clause 3

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 authorizes Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with Indian tribes. Interstate commerce means commerce among states. It is an enumerated power, unlike the Necessary and Proper Clause, which supports means of executing granted powers.

Necessary and Proper Clause — Article I, Section 8, Clause 18

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 allows Congress to make laws needed and appropriate to carry out powers granted by the Constitution. Often called the Elastic Clause, it supports implied powers tied to authorized ends; it does not confer unlimited power.

Locating House and Senate qualifications

House: Article I, Section 2, Clause 2 — age 25, seven years of U.S. citizenship, and residence in the represented state when elected. Senate: Article I, Section 3, Clause 3 — age 30, nine years of citizenship, and residence in the represented state when elected.

Historical Context

The Great Compromise balanced population-based representation in the House with equal state representation in the Senate. The new Congress could tax and regulate interstate commerce, addressing weaknesses of the Confederation. The article also contained compromises protecting slavery, which later amendments overturned.