The first few words of the Preamble of our Constitution are likely familiar to us. Those famous words begin, “We the People of the United States…” We may even remember a popular (and very important!) line from the Declaration of Independence which asserts that governments derive their just powers, “from the consent of the governed”. But we sometimes have questions about this line of thinking that do not seem so clear. I mean, if these things are really true, then we might sometimes wonder, “What are the specific things that “We the People” have authorized for the federal government to do?”, or “How would I know if my government is trying to do something for which “We the People” have not given our consent?” and “if abuse is happening, what can “We the People” do about it?”. These are great questions. Let’s consider some potential answers.
Importance of a Contract
Let’s say I hire a company to do some renovation work in my kitchen. We sit down together and write a contract. In the contract, we specify the changes we are making. We outline our choice of cabinets, the new floor tile, the paint colors, new light fixtures and appliances. The contract outlines the costs for each. I grimace a little at the total, but we agree to all these things and the contractor and I both sign the document. Then because I don’t want the inconvenience of my kitchen being under construction, I put my family in the van and we head out for a long road trip vacation. When I get home, I am surprised to see that my home is no longer recognizable! There are so many things over and above what I asked for! I am even more surprised to find out the bill for all the work is roughly the cost to build a new home! I ask what happened, and the contractor says they really thought it made sense to increase the square footage of the house – so they added a second floor. He proceeds to give me all kinds of reasons why his team of “experts” thought this was a good idea. What do I say?!? All this work was not in the contract! There is no way I am going to pay that bill! I didn’t even want a second floor! The contractor went WAY beyond what I hired him to do.
Our Constitution is a contract
Our Constitution is a contract. The parties to the contract are the people of the “Free and Independent States” who came together to create the federal government during the Constitutional Convention. They (or I could say “we” by extension) came together and delegated certain, specifically listed, or “enumerated” powers to accomplish the specific government tasks at the federal level that needed to be done. The Constitution is that contract that lists each of the delegated powers. Every official that accepts a role in the federal government swears an oath to support the Constitution. That Constitution defines very clear, limited roles – very specific things they can do. However, like the contractor in our fictional kitchen project, the federal government has completely ignored their contract and taken on huge, additional duties with exorbitant price tags.
Limited government power
Enumerated powers are nothing more than specific, listed duties that each branch of the government is authorized to do. Government officials have authority to do only those things specifically listed, or “enumerated” in the Constitution. You may have heard our Constitution referred to as an “Express Powers” document. This means government power has to be specified in the Constitution. That is the extent of their contract with the American people. In the article, “Why Jurisdictions Matter”, we discussed a Sheriff that had authority in certain cases, but we discovered he had very real and tangible limits on his legitimate authority. If he went beyond these limits, we decided he was actually a criminal! Similarly, enumerated powers are those limits for the federal government’s legitimate authority.
Why would our founders limit the power of the federal government? They did not trust power! They had just witnessed Great Britain abusing governmental power and they never wanted that to happen in our country. James Madison, commonly referred to as the “Father of the Constitution” explains…
“Constitution is a limited one, possessing no power not actually given, and carrying on the face of it a distrust of power beyond the distrust indicated by the ordinary forms of free Government.”
– James Madison
American questions
Questions like the ones we gave in the opening of this article are nothing new for Americans. We have always been allowed, and even encouraged, to question the activities of our government, and in the words of the First Amendment, to “Petition the Government for a redress of grievances”. So to ask questions like these is decidedly American. “What are the specific things that “We the People” have authorized for the federal government to do?” The specific things “We the People” have authorized the federal government to do are the “Enumerated Powers” of each branch listed in the Constitution. If it isn’t a power specifically listed in the Constitution, they can’t do it. If it isn’t listed, they have no authority to do it. If it isn’t listed, it is unconstitutional for them to do it. Both major political parties go well beyond their legitimate authority regularly. We spend hours listening to the fussing and fighting over the details of the pros and cons of a hundred different issues. However, the truth is, the vast majority of the time, whatever they are fussing about isn’t in their enumerated powers anyway!
Have we the people given consent?
“How would I know if my government is trying to do something for which “We the People” have not given our consent?” As Americans, we all need to become familiar with the Constitution of the United States. We need to focus on the real Constitution – the one our founders originally intended – not the countless mutations of our Constitution that judges have issued over the past 230+ years. The enumerated powers found in the Constitution are not complex. Americans must become familiar with the Constitution again and be able to hold our elected officials accountable for their behavior. If we find these officials are abusing their power – if we find they are adding a second floor to the house when the contract says they are supposed to redo the kitchen, then we need to ensure they are removed from office and they are replaced with those who will honor their oath to the Constitution of the United States.
“The power under the Constitution will always be in the people. It is entrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing; and whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can and undoubtedly will be recalled.”
– George Washington
What are Enumerated Powers?
Enumerated powers are those powers specifically listed in the Constitution that “We the People” have authorized the federal government to do. In future articles, we will look into the enumerated powers of each branch of government to learn more about what they should and should not be doing. We will also see the requirement for enumerated powers found in the Constitution itself. Lastly, we will look at a powerful example from our nation’s history to show how following this idea of enumerated powers should play out if we are committed to honoring limits of our Constitution yet we find something new – or a change that “We the People” want to make – to the enumerated powers of the federal government.
If we are going to return to the form of limited, Constitutional government our founders gave us, Americans must understand and embrace the idea of enumerated powers. We hope you’ll come with us as we consider these things together.
Great article! I shared it with Ellis County YR. Let’s get back to the 10th amendment. I’m looking forward to the next post.
Wonderful! Thank you! Yes, it is exciting to see the energy of that group of young folks who understand the idea of limited government. I am looking forward to seeing where that group goes – let me know how I can help!
Thank you Jason for explaining enumerated powers so well.
Can we do more than just vote every 2 years, like, maybe impeach these criminals? They just get worse over time!
Wow – I am sorry to be so late in answering your comment!
I understand that sentiment for sure! Actually, yes, I believe impeachment would be very appropriate for those who violate their oath of office, and the Constitution they swore to support is clearly a document designed to limit federal power. I agree it is criminal theft to allow them to continue! Hopefully in the future we will have a Congress who understands enumerated powers enough to start impeachment on members of Congress who need it. In the meantime, however, I think our best bet is to understand the Constitution ourselves and go talk to folks – especially when they are candidates – and ask them about enumerated powers. When they have no idea what it is or why they should be limited by it, then we don’t elect them!
Thank you for the comment!
Great analogy of the house remodel. I understand more clearly about the Constitution being a contract and that it means what it says and doesn’t say.
It’s even more clear that our politicians, who have sworn to uphold the Constitution, just say the words but have their own agendas.
Our Founding Fathers had amazing insight when laying out the enumerated powers.
Yes they did! For sure! I am constantly amazed at their foresight and understanding of the nature of men… and their thoughts of a design of government that takes that into account. Thank you for the comment!
I posted this on NEXTDOOR in our Political Discussion Group. I certainly learned from this and it was so easy to understand.
Much Thanks
Thank you so much for sharing our material! We appreciate that very much! We will try to keep articles coming that explain and hopefully clarify the beauty of the design of the form of government and freedom our founders gave us. Thank you again!
The home remodel analogy was perfect. They keep adding on and creating more departments and agencies which write rules and regulations that no one has voted on, and make sure that no one can read, understand nor object to them. I read the book “The Weed Agency” by Jim Geraghty years ago after meeting the author at Houston conference. Makes one sick to their stomach when you realize there are hundreds, if not thousands of these vile agencies in the Deep State.
https://www.amazon.com/Weed-Agency-Federal-Bureaucracy-Without/dp/0770436528
Excellent article!! Wow, how we’ve strayed from these specific powers!!
Yes Maam! Thank you for the comment!
I am so sorry to be so late with an answer to your comment!
Yes – I agree with you for sure! The Constitution says in Article 1, Section 1, “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…”
Legislative power means ability to make law, so, regulations passed by a government entity other than Congress is not law…
Thank you for the comment!
Thanks for simplifying the definition of the Enumerated Powers-We The People giving the federal government the authorization of what they can do under the constitution. I was having a hard time understanding that until your blog. It’s difficult at times trying to understand what exactly is written in the constitution in layman’s terms. The constitution made easy is great, but at times even that can trip me up.
I am sorry to be so late with answering!
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I really appreciate your blog posts, Jason. This helps clarify what Enumerated Powers are for me, especially with that contractor analogy. This class motivates me to continue learning about our Founding Fathers and what they created for all of us…We The People!
Hello – and again, I am sorry to be so late with answering!
Thank you for your kind words – I am looking forward to getting another class going again soon – I miss these conversations! Thank you for your comment!
I really liked this article…you have a gift of making things understandable. I never thought of the Constitution being a contract. 😊 Is it possible to amend the constitution so many time that you could not recognize the original wording or it’s intent. (Enumerated power)?{
Thank you for your comment – great question! I guess, technically, it is possible to do too many amendments and mess things up. However, there is a natural protection against anything getting too crazy simply because any amendment has to be ratified by three-fourths of the States. That means that 38 states would have to ratify – so it can’t be the latest red or blue fad – it would need to be something a large majority of Americans supported or it would not get the support to pass. Mark Meckler with Convention of States gave out a challenge for anyone to send him any amendment they would oppose, along with the list of 38 states that might ratify it… he says he has never gotten an answer to this challenge. So, even if we hold a convention and propose amendments, it will be very difficult to get them ratified – which is the way we want it – we want it to be a very high bar. Thank you again!
Jason, your blog posts are always educational! Thank you!
Thank you so much! I enjoy writing them! RaShell and I both feel God has given us this area with the classes and the website and this is our lane to run in to try to help things for His glory. Thank you for your comment!
Thank you, Jason, for the easy-to-understand analogy simplifying enumerated powers.
You are very welcome! I enjoy sharing information that I hope will be helpful to Americans. Now we have to hold our elected officials accountable to stick to it! Thank you again!
To me it is encouraging that the Supreme Court recognized that they stepped out of their lane with Roe V Wade. They don’t have the power to legislate. I am so thankful that the Supreme Court did the right thing with repealing it.
We, too are WAY excited to see Roe v. Wade repealed. We are looking forward to celebrating June as “Life Month” (as contrasted with how some other folks refer to it). Thank you so much for the comment!
Thank you for this explanation and the hypothetical which so aptly describes our Congress these days.
A major problem I find is the lack of transparency. We don’t even know what they are doing most of the time. Even if you leave you set on C-Span or live YouTube committee sessions, you still don’t always know what they are up to.
During 2020, I was reading and hearing about the allocations dispersed to various entities. My jaw hit the floor when I saw $25 MILLION given to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC! This was part of the pandemic stimulus packet. Theaters were closed. So, why did they need ANY money, other than basics like utilities? I looked up their Trustees and Board members and saw the likes of Pelosi, McConnell, Clintons, and other notables. Churches and small businesses were asked to close, but the Kennedy Center, closed as well, got money that could have gone to more needy people.
Planned Parenthood received $80 Million in PPP SBA loans, yet didn’t have to close! Later, some legislators demanded they return money. (I wonder if they did it in the form of DNC donations? Hmmm)
But how many people were aware? Mainstream Media is, as someone stated, “The Enemy of the People.” They’re not going to let on. It is hard for working people to have the time to spend researching this stuff.
The Constitution, in Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 7 states, “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.” Have you seen this? I haven’t.
I thoroughly agree with you that Congress and the Administration have more than overstepped their enumerated powers. How do we reign them in when elections have become a dubious enterprise?
I share your concern and examples you provided of rules skewed in the direction of priorities of the left. As far as what to do about it, I think the more we focus on this idea of enumerated powers, the better. I mean, we need to quit jumping on the red or blue side, and just say something like “where do you find constitutional jurisdiction to legislate on this issue?” Thank you for your comment!
Reading Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution sheds a lot of clarity not only on what we should be expect our elected congressmen and women to do, but should be the basis of our own report card in which we grade how well they respected and lived up to their enumerated powers. This is something that we should endeavor to accomplish as we prepare ourselves to step into the voting booth.
To do so requires that we find ways to understand how our reps & senators are voting and make time to communicate with them about what we see, and feel confident in to raise questions with them.
Allowing ourselves to be too busy to make time to do this only allows what we see going on to continue unchecked.
Great analogy in contracting to have your kitchen renovated only to find out a second story was added to your house without your approval and then being presented with the bill! That’s how I feel every time I look at my pay stub.
Thanks!
Thank you for your comment! Yes, I agree we have to spend the time required to keep up with how our officials are voting. In our article at this link, Who are Your Representatives and How did they Vote?, RaShell does a great video where she demonstrates how to go into Heritage Action and see how they voted against the Heritage Action recommended position. It also has all the contact info for their offices so we can let them know how we want them to vote! Thank you again for your comment!
I like the way you explained this because Our Government has really torn the constitution apart to make it to what they believe. Thank you for the classes! They are very educational.
Thank you! Yes, I agree, so many are stretching our government way past where it was designed to be. Thank you for your comment and for your participation!
The government has been doing a lot of things that the constitution doesn’t say they can do, I really liked your explanation of enumerated power, Thank you!
Yes, we need to reign it back in – back in to the limits originally designed into the Constitution. Thank you for your participation and for your comment!
Thank you Jason. I look forward to learning more each week of the Constitution Alive course. Article V is of special interest to me.
Thank you for your kind words – and for taking the class! We will talk about Article V in the last week of class. In the meantime, a few articles I have written on Article V are:
Article 5- The Two Ways to Amend the Constitution
Convention of States- Is it a Good Idea?
Broken Promises
Thank you again!
Another great article by Jason! I like the question and response on the possibility of there being so many amendments that we lose the meaning of the Constitution. I agree with Jason that the ratification process is so difficult (as it should be so we do not make a mockery of our Constitution and the amendment processes in Article V. It is difficult to get people opposed to an Article V convention that there will not be a “runaway convention that will result in an entirely new constitution”. They use the ridiculous concept of a runaway convention to scare people into turning to Congress to propose amendments – even though they realize that Congress will not self-correct on their abuse of enumerated powers. I trust “we the people” more than I trust the members of Congress.
Yes – I agree! One of the examples I use is that it is like we are on an airliner plane. Unfortunately, there are malfunction lights everywhere, the engines are on fire, and we are spiraling down towards our destruction. We don’t know exactly how long we have before we hit, but we need to take extreme action to recover. However, some are worried that if we devote ourselves too much to recovering the plane, we may get hijacked. There is a time to take action, and this is one of those times. 🙂 Thank you for your comment!