Navy Clause

Arguing that the Appropriations Power enables Congress to address the dangers of domestic effects of plenary executive authority.

Noting that “[a] navy was a relatively defensive instrument that could not easily be turned upon Englishmen to impose domestic tyranny.”

Reviewing the political and geopolitical circumstances at the Founding to argue that Congress’s power to control the Executive’s power in the face of threatened armed conflicts is rooted in the clauses of Article I relating to standing Armies, the Navy, and the Militia.

Explaining that the main reason for divergent views of the different branches of the service was that navies could not intervene in domestic politics or threaten personal liberties on land.