Defenders of the Constitution strongly disagreed. At Pennsylvania’s ratification convention, James Wilson, the author of the clause, explained that the words “necessary and proper” are ...

Anyone interested in the scope of Congress’s power under the Necessary and Proper Clause will want to study ... they would not find in either the Constitution or any prior decision of ours ...

Article I Section 8 of the Constitution lists powers expressly ... Where are they found? What is the Necessary and Proper Clause? What does this do to the powers of Congress?

It then followed some 20th century cases that (contrary to earlier rulings) allowed Congress to use the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause to regulate economic activities with ...

One way to limit the power of the new Congress under the Constitution ... make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers. Also known as the Elastic Clause, this ...