Name one power of the U.S. Congress.

Why this is the answer

Most of what Congress can do is listed in one place, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. That list includes laying taxes, borrowing money, coining money, declaring war, raising armies and maintaining a navy, and it ends by letting Congress make all laws needed to carry out those powers. USCIS boils the list down to three answers, and you need only one: Congress writes laws, declares war, and makes the federal budget. Any of the three is a complete answer, so there is no need to recite them all. Writing laws is the broadest of the three, since the Constitution places all federal lawmaking power in Congress. Declaring war is narrower and more striking. The President commands the armed forces, but the decision to go to war belongs to Congress. The clearest example in the study guide is World War II: Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt announced the next day that the country would enter the war, and later that same day Congress voted to declare war. That division has been tested. In 1973, after many members of Congress came to believe that the President was misusing his powers as commander in chief, Congress passed the War Powers Act to gain a stronger voice over the use of troops, President Nixon vetoed it, and Congress overrode the veto. The budget answer comes from Congress's control over money. Congress raises money through taxes, and the Constitution says no money can be drawn from the Treasury unless a law appropriates it. That is why making the federal budget counts as a power of Congress and not of the President. This question carries an asterisk on the official list, so people who qualify for the 65/20 special consideration study it as well. The trap is naming a power of the President, such as vetoing bills or commanding the military. Those are real powers, but of the wrong branch. If nerves hit, "writes laws" is the shortest correct reply.