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Aug 14, 2019 · The "Necessary and Proper Clause," formally drafted as Clause 18 of Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution and also known as the elastic clause, is one of the most powerful and important clauses in the Constitution. Clauses 1–17 of Article 1 enumerate all of the powers that the government has over the legislation of the country.

The Necessary and Proper Clause was included in the Constitution in response to the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which had limited federal power to only those powers “expressly delegated to the United States.” 5 Footnote Articles of Confederation of 1781, art.

The Necessary and Proper Clause—also sometimes called the Elastic Clause, Coefficient Clause, or Basket Clause—concludes Section 8’s list of enumerated powers by vesting in Congress the authority to use all means “necessary and proper” to execute those powers. Since the landmark Supreme Court case of McCulloch v.

This residual clause—called at various times the “Elastic Clause,” the “Sweeping Clause,” and (from the twentieth century onward) the “Necessary and Proper Clause”—is the constitutional source of the vast majority of federal laws.

Elastic Clause After providing Congress with a long list of specific powers, Article I, Section 8 granted Congress authority to make all laws that are “necessary and proper” to implement those powers. Because this broad phrase covers such an extensive sweep of activities, it has been called the “elastic clause.” Donald Ritchie, Our Constitution