Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

congressional investigations  

Definition

  • The framers of the U.S. Constitution did not explicitly grant the national legislature the power to conduct investigations, but in McGrain v. Daugherty (1927) the Supreme Court recognized this authority as an implied power that “has long been treated as an attribute of the power to legislate.” Congress may also invoke the power in investigating the need to propose constitutional amendments. The investigative power is broad, but the Court has over the years sought to restrain investigations interfering with the rights, including First Amendment rights, of those called before Congress in the course of an investigation. [Source: Encyclopedia of the First Amendment; Congressional Investigations]

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/congressional_investigations

Download this concept: