In The Founders’ Purse, I bring to light historical evidence that aligns with the Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision affirming broad congressional power to enact spending laws under the Appropriations Clause. (CFPB v. Community Financial Services) https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4484920
Justice Thomas’s majority opinion rejected the Fifth Circuit’s purportedly originalist arguments for a more restrictive reading of the Appropriations Clause
While the decision in Community Financial did not directly implicate the source of Congress’s spending power, Justice Thomas noted that Congress’s power of the purse was “presupposed” by the Constitution.
One of the benefits of an implied spending power is that it obviates the need to derive spending power from the general welfare or the necessary and proper clauses.
As noted in my essay, attempts to derive the spending power from one clause or the other have led to further (and in my view, unwarranted) arguments about substantive limits on Congress’s spending power.
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