The necessary and proper clause has been one of the most
important influences on the nature of American federalism. It has been interpreted in
such a way as to allow the federal government to do almost whatever it wants in terms of
making law.
The Constitution, of course, includes
enumerated powers that are supposed to be a list of all the things the federal
government is allowed to do. It also contains the 10th Amendment, which reserves to the
states any powers that are not explicitly given to the federal government or denied to
the states. Both of these parts of the Constitution would seem to limit the actions of
the federal government.
However, the necessary and proper
clause has been interpreted in ways that allow it to override the other parts of the
Constitution mentioned above. Through this clause, the federal government has been
allowed to make law in any area that can be connected to any of its enumerated powers.
Since one of those powers is to provide for the "general welfare" of the people, almost
anything the federal government does can be linked to its enumerated powers. For this
reason, the necessary and proper clause has had a huge impact on the nature of American
federalism.
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