Is the Fed Necessary and Proper?

An excellent discussion of enumerated powers was opened by Charlie on The Editors podcast and joined by Dominic in his post.

I am not troubled in principle by Congress’s creation of the Federal Reserve. I think it is settled by McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), one of the most significant cases in the Supreme Court’s history. I would note one thing about Chief Justice John Marshall’s decision that is suggested, though not spelled out, by Dom’s post. Marshall did not rest the principle that Congress may employ broad means to accomplish explicit constitutional ends solely on the logic of implication. Rather, he stressed that there was (and is) an explicit constitutional provision empowering Congress in this regard: the necessary and proper clause (the final clause of Article I, Section 8).

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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Constitutional Government

An excellent discussion of enumerated powers was opened by Charlie on The Editors podcast and joined by Dominic in his post.

I am not troubled in principle by Congress’s creation of the Federal Reserve. I think it is settled by McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), one of the most significant cases in the Supreme Court’s history. I would note one thing about Chief Justice John Marshall’s decision that is suggested, though not spelled out, by Dom’s post. Marshall did not rest the principle that Congress may employ broad means to accomplish explicit constitutional ends solely on the logic of implication. Rather, he stressed that there was (and is) an explicit constitutional provision empowering Congress in this regard: the necessary and proper clause (the final clause of Article I, Section 8).

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.