The Necessary and Proper Clause, also known as the Elastic Clause, is a clause in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. It grants Congress the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. The clause is also known as the "residual clause" and is the constitutional source of the vast majority of federal laws. Virtually all of the laws establishing the machinery of government, as well as substantive laws ranging from antidiscrimination laws to labor laws, are enacted under the authority of the Necessary and Proper Clause.
The Necessary and Proper Clause has been the subject of much debate and interpretation throughout history. The clause grants implied powers to Congress in addition to its enumerated powers. The interpretation of the clause has been a powerful bone of contention between political parties, with the first practical example of that contention coming in 1791 when Hamilton used the clause to defend the constitutionality of the new First Bank of the United States. The influence of the Necessary and Proper Clause and its broader interpretation under McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) in American jurisprudence can be seen in cases generally thought to involve simply the Commerce Clause.
Historically, most of the controversy surrounding the meaning of the Necessary and Proper Clause has centered on the word “necessary”. Attempts to create a national bank in order to aid the nation’s finances generated three competing understandings of what kind of connection with another federal power makes a law “necessary” for implementing that power. Until quite recently, the word “proper” played no serious role in constitutional debates about the meaning of the clause.
In summary, the Necessary and Proper Clause is a clause in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution that grants Congress the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. It has been the subject of much debate and interpretation throughout history, with the interpretation of the clause being a powerful bone of contention between political parties.
