Learn the inherent powers definition and how they compare to implied and expressed powers. See examples of inherent powers held by Congress and the president.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Inherent Power | Definition & Examples
Table of Contents
- Inherent Powers
- Inherent Powers, Implied Powers, and Expressed Powers
- What are the Inherent Powers of the State?
- What are the Inherent Powers of the President?
- What are the Inherent Powers of Congress?
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an example of an inherent power?
Imagine that a newly formed state, which is an organized political body that monopolizes the use of force, needs funds in order to establish resources necessary for the wellbeing of its citizenry. It has the power to establish taxes on goods and services that will help the government raise the money necessary for establishing those resources. This is the power of taxation, one of the three inherent powers of a state.
What does inherent power mean?
An inherent power is a power given to a state or organized political body that is not expressly written in a formal political document. States have three inherent powers: the power of taxation, police power, and the power of eminent domain. The Executive branch and Legislative branch also have their own inherent powers vested by the establishment of their offices.
Table of Contents
- Inherent Powers
- Inherent Powers, Implied Powers, and Expressed Powers
- What are the Inherent Powers of the State?
- What are the Inherent Powers of the President?
- What are the Inherent Powers of Congress?
- Lesson Summary
Inherent powers are powers of a branch of government not specifically listed in the constitution. They are powers given to a branch of government, like the executive branch, to perform the essential duties of government. They are not powers or rights that are available to private citizens or corporations, but rather are purely used for the government to perform its duties and function properly. However, beyond any powers inherent in the establishment of a branch of government, a political body governing a nation has inherent powers that allow it to tend to the wellbeing of its citizens. Inherent powers can be compared to the responsibilities of a caterer. Not every decision a caterer makes, like what ingredients to choose or what utensils to use, is going to require oversight and approval by a committee. Instead, the caterer does what they need to do to get the job done, choosing what ingredients and utensils they think are best for the job.
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Like the inherent powers of the Executive office, the Implied powers are powers given to Congress that are also not expressly listed in the Constitution. Implied powers come from the "Elastic Clause" or the "Necessary and Proper" clause, which lets Congress pass laws deemed necessary and proper for exercising its powers. The Expressed powers are any and all powers expressed within the Constitution. For example, Congress's enumerated powers listed in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution are Expressed powers.
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A state has inherent powers available to it to oversee the welfare of its people. A state, in this case, does not refer to an individual state within the United States, but rather a state in terms of a nation-state, a centrally organized political body. These shouldn't be confused with the inherent powers of a branch or office, since these are powers inherent to any government of a state. So, what are the inherent powers of the state? There are three inherent powers that a state can exercise in order to function as a political body. The first of these is the Power of Taxation. This power, typically exercised through the legislature, allows a state to levy taxes from its citizens in order to raise the revenue required for the government to operate. The second inherent power is that of Police Power. This allows a legislature to establish laws and ordinances for the welfare of its citizens. This includes establishing a police force to provide protection for citizens. The third is the Power of Eminent Domain, which allows a state to acquire private property for public use, provided there is adequate compensation. This includes the establishment of necessary government buildings, public-use property like roads, etc.
Inherent Powers Examples: Inherent Powers of the State
Now let's take a look at inherent powers examples. Imagine that there is a newly forming state where a government is being established to keep order. However, for order to be enforced, the government needs a police force. At the moment, the government does not have any money to pay that police force for their work, so they must levy taxes to raise money in order to pay them. The government passes a law requiring all citizens to pay a tax on any goods they buy that will go to the funding of a police force. The government can do this because of its inherent Power of Taxation.
To take another example, imagine that there is a state with multiple communities and a loose governmental structure. The state is fairly new, and so there is little law enforcement. As such, bandits are rampant and steal a large number of supplies from individuals who are trying to sell goods in their communities. The government, thanks to their inherent Police Power, can establish a police force to thwart the bandits and ensure the safety of citizens and their property.
Let's say this same state that is just establishing a police force is also trying to pass laws, but they don't have anywhere that they can hold hearings and votes for the passing of these laws. There is plenty of land to build a new building on, however, it is owned privately by a merchant. The government can take this land through the Power of Eminent Domain, but the government must compensate him for the land they are taking.
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Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states that "the executive power shall be vested in a President," and that the President should "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Because the wording of this clause is vague, it leaves a lot up for interpretation. Primarily, these powers are expressed through executive orders, determining when and how strictly to enforce a law or injunction. Executive orders are orders made by the president that oversees the management of the government. A president can also determine how strictly a law is enforced or if it is enforced at all because, by definition, the Executive is in charge of the enforcement of laws. The third type of power a president holds inherently is the power to issue an injunction, which is essentially an order given by the government for an action to be taken.
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Inherent Powers Examples: Inherent Powers of the Present
In recent years, inherent powers of the President have been used to deploy troops, like during the Presidency of George W. Bush, who deployed troops to Iraq without Congressional approval following the events of September 11. Additionally, President Obama issued an executive order in 2012 that stated children who had been brought into the United States illegally but had lived there most of their lives were protected from deportation. The president, although not capable of passing laws, can determine whether or not a law should be enforced in certain situations. So in this case, President Obama was allowed to take this action and make changes to the federal government's processing of immigrant minors by simply not enforcing the law.
In the past, they have been used in response to national emergencies. For example, Abraham Lincoln exercised his inherent powers as President in response to the Civil War. Franklin D. Roosevelt exercised these powers in response to the Great Depression, issuing the "New Deal" once he took office. He exercised them again in responding to the start of World War II.
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The inherent powers of congress come from the "Necessary and Proper" clause in the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to pass any laws it deems necessary and proper for carrying out its powers. They allow Congress the power to tax and establish a budget for the general welfare and common defense. They also allow Congress to borrow money as needed, contributing to the nation's debt. It also has the power to regulate commerce, establish citizen naturalization and bankruptcy laws, and the power to coin money and punish money counterfeiters.
Inherent Powers Examples: Inherent Powers of Congress
Let's take a look at an example. Imagine that Congress is holding a meeting to discuss the national budget. Laws are being passed that make some drastic changes to the education system and more funding is required to facilitate these changes. Congress has two choices: borrow money and deepen the nation's debt or make cuts to other programs and give the extra money to education. The nation is already deeper in debt than it would like, as it had to borrow a large sum in order to fund a recent war. Additionally, there are other departments that have a surplus of funds allocated to them and can afford small cuts to add to the new education system. So, Congress decides to revise the budget, allocating funds away from other programs and putting them towards the new system. In this example, the inherent powers of Congress allow them to make either decision regardless of the approval of other branches. If they reasoned that borrowing the funds required to aid the education system would be the best course of action, they have the power to do so.
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Inherent powers are powers of a state or branch of government that are not expressly written in a Constitution. For a state, these powers are the Power of Taxation, Police Power, and the Power of Eminent Domain. They can be compared to the powers a caterer has in making decisions to get their job done effectively. The Executive Branch and Legislative Branch each have their own inherent powers given to them as well. The President has the power to issue executive orders, determine if a law is enforced, and issue injunctions. Executive orders are orders given by the president that facilitate the management of the government. Injunctions are government orders to do an action. The president can also make changes to how the federal government applies a law by not enforcing the law. The inherent powers of Congress, granted by the "Necessary and Proper" clause, allow Congress to tax and establish the budget for welfare and common defense, establish citizenship naturalization and bankruptcy laws, regulate commerce, and coin currency.
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Video Transcript
Definition of Inherited Powers
Imagine you were a chef tasked in preparing the food for a major banquet. You've already been hired for the job and told what to make. In order to accomplish your task - serving dinner - you would have to make decisions and execute them, ranging from what types of ingredients to choose to what utensils to use.
If every single decision was made by committee or needed oversight, the planning process would take forever, and you might not be able to get your own job done. For this reason, you would most likely have the final say on these details or the power to execute your own job.
Inherent powers are kind of the same way. They are the powers that are necessary for a branch of government to get its job done.
Inherent Powers of the President
Article II of the Constitution specifies relatively little about the role of the president in the United States. But it does specify that the president must ensure that laws are faithfully executed. This important clause has been used by presidents to expand the inherent power that they can use.
Executive Orders
Executive orders are one type of inherent power that the president has. As an example, we can consider President Barack Obama's decision to raise the federal minimum wage for all workers of the federal government. According to the Constitution, the right to regulate the minimum wage is limited to Congress under the interstate commerce clause.
But, since Obama serves as the president, he is in charge of the executive branch and has decided that all workers for the executive branch will be paid at least $10.10, way more than the $7.25 an hour now legally mandated for all private sector workers. Obama has the right to make such a change under his capacity to oversee the executive branch of government.
Enforcing (or not Enforcing) the Law
Another inherent power of the president is the ability to determine how vigorously a law is enforced. An example here is President Obama's decision not to deport children who have lived in the United States most their lives, but were brought illegally by their parents at a young age. Obama issued this executive order after Congress stalled on passing the Dream Act, a bill that would allow undocumented child immigrants to be able to study in American universities.
Technically, the president cannot make immigration laws. That is a right reserved to Congress. But the president is in charge of enforcing the immigration laws. And in this case, the Obama administration has essentially said that children of a certain age will not be deported while attending a university. In other words, Obama is not going to enforce the existing immigration law against these children.
Officially, Obama is not offering them a path to legalization, but the idea is that such students will earn special training that will qualify them for an employment visa in the United States. This example shows how a president can exert power by not enforcing the law.
Some opponents of Obama have charged that his executive orders and failure to enforce the law have been unconstitutional. House Speaker John Boehner has even begun a process to sue the president for failing to live up to his constitutional obligations.
Injunctions
What if there is a worker strike that threatens public safety or the ability of the federal government to execute its laws? According to the Supreme Court, the president does have the ability to use his third type of inherent power, the right to order an injunction. An injunction is a formal order by the government to do some action.
In one famous case on injunction in 1894, President Grover Cleveland ordered a railroad strike to be stopped and railroad workers to go back to work. The court ruled that the president had this inherent power because the strike stopped US postal service and interstate commerce. And since the president was in charge of overseeing the postal service, he had the right to order an end to the strike.
Inherent Powers of Congress
Within Article I of the Constitution, there are a finite number of powers that are given to Congress. But the Constitution also allows for Congress to pass any laws which are necessary and proper for carrying out the powers that it is given. This 'necessary and proper' clause has become the basis of broadly expanding the limited role of Congress.
Take, for example, the power to tax given by the Constitution to the federal government. In order for Congress to carry out a tax, what would it logically need? Well, for one, it would probably need some kind of bank to help keep track of its records.
Interestingly enough, this very issue came up in a Supreme Court case called McCullough v. Maryland. In this case, the state of Maryland objected that the United States had no right to start a bank because it was never specified by the Constitution. But the court, led by Supreme Court Justice Marshall, ruled that Congress did have the power because it was necessary for the government to regulate interstate commerce and collect taxes.
Other examples of inherent powers include the power to create immigration laws, recognize foreign countries and the power to create new departments of government.
Lesson Summary
For the president and Congress to get a job done, they need more powers than the few stated by the Constitution. The framers recognized that and thus created ways for both the president and Congress to expand their power through the concept of inherent powers. Inherent powers are the powers that are necessary for a branch of government to get its job done.
The president has the power to issue executive orders, enforce (or not enforce) the law and order injunctions. Congress has the power to carry out powers outlined by Article I of the Constitution, as well as the necessary and proper clause.
Learning Outcomes
Once you are finished, you should be able to:
- Define inherited powers
- Discuss the inherent powers of the president and the Congress of the United States
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Inherent Power | Definition & Examples
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