Part II Political Science, Ch.16 The Evolution of America’s Fiscal Constitution
Bill White
From: The Oxford Handbook of the U.S. Constitution
Edited By: Mark Tushnet, Sanford Levinson, Mark A. Graber
The Constitution grants Congress sole authority over federal spending, taxation, import duties, money, and debt.1 Though the Constitution itself did not limit the uses of debt, constraints on borrowing established by early federal leaders became embedded in a customary or traditional constitution. Other features of the traditional fiscal constitution included congressional delegation of control over the money supply and a more formal role of the president as guardian of fiscal discipline. In recent decades federal elected officials have abandoned the customary...
