The Oldest Constitutional Question

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Richard Primus of the University of Michigan Law School and John Harrison of the University of Virginia School of Law join to discuss Primus’s new book The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power, which challenges the prevailing understanding of congressional power and argues that Congress is not limited to its textually enumerated powers. Their conversation traces how this fundamental disagreement has shaped key moments in American constitutional history, from the Founding Era to the New Deal, and why the debate remains unsettled today. Resources Richard Primus, The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power (2025) Richard Primus, “’The Essential Characteristic’: Enumerated Powers and the Bank of the United States,” Michigan Law Review (2018) John Harrison, “Enumerated Federal Power and the Necessary and Proper Clause (reviewingThe Origins of the Necessary and Proper Clause by Gary Lawson, Geoffrey P. Miller, Robert G. Natelson, Guy I. Seidman),” The University of Chicago Law Review (2011) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠live program⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or watch recordings on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Support our important work. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello friends, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center,
0:08.0	and welcome to We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:11.0	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness
0:17.0	and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:20.8	This week we'll discuss Richard Primus' new book, The Oldest Constitutional Question,
0:26.6	and Numeration and Federal Power.
0:28.6	Richard Primus is the Theatre J. St. Antoine Collegiate Professor of Law at the University of Michigan.
0:35.6	And in addition to the oldest constitutional
0:38.0	question, he's written several important law review articles on the scope of congressional power.
0:43.4	Richard, it's wonderful to welcome you to we the people. Thanks for having me, Jeff. I'm delighted to be here.
0:49.8	And to dig into this topic, I'm honored to put Richard in conversation with another great scholar of congressional power.
0:57.5	John Harrison is the James Madison, distinguished professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law.
1:03.5	He's the author of several important law review articles on a range of topics, including the Reconstruction Amendments, Congressional Power,
1:10.0	and as I well remember
1:11.8	from my earliest scholarly days, superb articles on the privileges or immunities clause,
1:16.4	which he's written about for the NCC's interactive constitution. John, it's wonderful to welcome
1:21.6	you to We the People. Thank you, Jeff. It's great to be here.
1:25.1	Richard, congrats on the book. Tell We the People, listeners, about your central argument
1:30.9	in the oldest constitutional question, enumeration, and federal power.
1:35.5	So there's a basic fundamental doctrine in constitutional law that says that Congress is a legislature of enumerated powers, meaning that the
1:47.8	Constitution's text lists the subjects on which Congress can legislate, and it can make law on
1:54.9	those things and know others. In this respect, it differs from state legislatures. The normal rule is that a state legislature can make any law that it isn't prohibited for making,
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 19 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Constitution Center, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Constitution Center and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.