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When explaining each article of the U.S.

Constitution, it's important to note that the U.S. Constitution is divided into seven articles, each addressing different aspects of government structure and functionality:

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Article I of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Legislative Branch of the federal government. Section 1, the Legislative Vesting Clause, provides that all federal legislative powers are vested in the Congress. As the Supreme Court stated in 1810, [i]t is the peculiar province of the legislature to prescribe general rules for the government of society. One influential legal scholar in 1826 described [t]he power of making laws as the supreme power in a state. As discussed elsewhere, however, the Founders limited Congress’s power by only vesting the legislative powers herein granted by the Constitution, by creating a bicameral legislature, and by creating checks in the other branches.

Section 2 of Article I outlines the makeup and certain unique powers of the House of Representatives, and Section 3 does the same for the Senate. Sections 4 through 6 address procedural matters common to the two Houses, including elections, assembly and adjournment, legislative procedures, and certain privileges and limitations on Members.

As mentioned, the Constitution does not grant Congress plenary legislative power but only certain enumerated powers. Sections 7 and 8 outline the exercise of those enumerated powers. Section 7 addresses the procedures for enacting legislation, including special provisions for bills raising revenue, and the general requirements of bicameralism and presentment—the need for a bill to pass both Houses of Congress and be presented to the President for signature. Section 8 enumerates Congress’s specific legislative authorities, including the power to tax and spend, to borrow money, to regulate interstate commerce, to establish uniform rules on naturalization and bankruptcy, to coin money, to punish counterfeiters, to establish post offices, to regulate intellectual property, to establish courts, to punish maritime crimes, to declare war, to raise and support armies, to govern enclaves, and to make other laws necessary and proper for executing these enumerated powers.

Section 9 denies certain powers to Congress, including by restricting the slave trade; generally denying the ability to suspend the writ of habeas corpus; prohibiting bills of attainder and ex post facto laws; restricting direct taxes, export taxes, and appropriations; prohibiting ports preferences; and prohibiting titles of nobility and foreign emoluments. Section 10 denies certain powers to the states, including by preventing states from entering into treaties, issuing bills of credit or coining money; prohibiting bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, or laws impairing the obligations of contracts; and by restricting states’ ability to impose duties on imports or exports. Section 10 also provides that states may not take certain actions without Congress’s consent, including laying duties of tonnage, keeping troops or engaging in war, or entering into compacts with other states or foreign powers.

**Article 2**:

Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Executive Branch of the federal government.

The Executive Vesting Clause, in Section 1, Clause 1, provides that the federal executive power is vested in the President. Section 3 of Article II further requires the President to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed. The executive power thus consists of the authority to enforce laws and to appoint the agents charged with the duty of such enforcement. The President also has distinct authority over foreign affairs, and alone has the power to speak or listen as a representative of the nation. As a general matter, the Supreme Court has recognized that the Constitution vests the President not only with the authorities expressly delineated therein, but also with certain implied authorities, such as the ability to supervise (and generally to remove) executive officials and the power to recognize foreign governments. At the same time, the Court has said that by granting the President the power of faithfully executing the laws, the Constitution refutes the idea that the President was intended to be a lawmaker. Nonetheless, the Court has recognized that officials appointed by the President—even those located within the Executive Branch—may exercise regulatory or adjudicative powers that are quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial. Broadly, the Court has recognized that Executive Officers exercise authority to enforce and administer the laws, including rulemaking, administrative determinations, and the filing of lawsuits.

The remaining provisions of Article II’s Section 1 primarily outline the election of the President, including the establishment of the electoral college. Relatedly, Section 1 sets out the qualifications of the President, the oath of office, and compensation. Section 1 also creates succession provisions in the event of a President’s removal or other inability to act, although the relatively sparse language in Clause 6 was later supplemented by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act.

Sections 2 and 3 define specific presidential powers and duties. Section 2, Clause 1 describes exclusive presidential powers: namely, the Commander in Chief authority, the power to require written opinions from the heads of executive departments, and the pardon power. Clause 2 defines the powers that the President shares with Congress, outlining the treaty-making power and the appointment power. Clause 3 expands on appointments by granting the President the power to unilaterally make temporary appointments during Senate recess. Section 3 requires the President to give Congress information on the state of the union. It also authorizes the President to recommend legislative measures and in extraordinary circumstances convene or adjourn Congress. Section 3 further grants the President the power to receive ambassadors and other public ministers. And as previously mentioned, Section 3 contains the Take Care Clause, requiring the President to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed.

Section 4 provides that the President—and all other civil Officers of the United States—may be removed from office if impeached and convicted on charges of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Article I contains further provisions bearing on impeachment procedures and judgments.

As discussed elsewhere, Article I also contains some provisions bearing on presidential authority, perhaps most notably the President’s authority to approve or veto legislation.

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Article III of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Judicial Branch of the federal government.

Section 1 of Article III, known as the Judicial Vesting Clause, confers the federal judicial power on one supreme Court and such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. Through that language, the Constitution’s Framers ensured the existence of a federal Supreme Court but left to Congress the decision of whether to establish lower federal courts. The first Congress established lower federal courts in the first legislation related to the Federal Judiciary. As the Nation expanded, Congress legislated to expand and restructure the Article III Judiciary and also periodically created other tribunals known as Article I courts or legislative courts.

While Article III grants Congress significant authority to establish and structure federal courts, it also imposes key limitations designed to ensure the independence of the Judiciary. Article III, Section 1 provides that federal judges shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,which the Supreme Court has interpreted to grant federal judges life tenure, unless they voluntarily resign or are impeached and removed from the bench. Section 1 also provides that federal judges shall receive compensation for their work, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. That provision prevents Congress from punishing unpopular judicial decisions by docking judges’ pay.

Article III, Section 2, Clause 1 authorizes the creation of federal courts with limited jurisdiction, providing that the judicial Power shall extend to certain enumerated categories of Cases and Controversies. Among other things, the Clause provides for federal court jurisdiction over cases arising under the Constitution or the laws or treaties of the United States (sometimes called federal question jurisdiction) and controversies between citizens of different states (known as diversity jurisdiction). Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 grants the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over a subset of federal cases, meaning that litigants may commence those cases in the Supreme Court rather than beginning the cases in a state court or a lower federal court and reaching the Supreme Court on appeal, if at all. The Constitution’s grant of Supreme Court original jurisdiction is self-executing, meaning that Congress need not enact legislation to implement it. None of the other grants of federal court jurisdiction are self-executing, however, so the lower federal courts can only hear cases to the extent Congress enacts legislation authorizing them to do so. The Supreme Court has interpreted Article III as setting the outer bounds of federal court jurisdiction: Congress cannot grant jurisdiction beyond what Article III authorizes, but is not required to grant the federal courts the full authority it might choose to confer consistent with the constitutional authorization.

The Supreme Court has also construed Article III to impose certain justiciabilityrequirements that may limit federal courts’ ability to hear cases that would otherwise fall within their jurisdiction. Among other limitations, federal courts may not issue advisory opinions.Relatedly, every federal court plaintiff must demonstrate standing to sue, which requires that the plaintiff possess a concrete and personal stake in the outcome of the case. Federal courts may not hear cases that are not ripe for decision because the dispute has not developed enough for a court to decide the issues presented effectively or those that have become moot and no longer present a live controversy. The courts also cannot hear political questions best entrusted to the other branches of government and generally avoid deciding constitutional questions when a case can be resolved on other grounds.

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**Article 4**:

Article IV of the U.S. Constitution is sometimes called the States’ Relations Article.

It contains several provisions concerning the federalist structure of government established by the Constitution, which divides sovereignty between the states and the National Government.

Sections 1 and 2 concern the states’ relationships with each other. Section 1 is referred to as the Full Faith and Credit Clause, and requires states to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states; for example, states must generally give effect to judgments issued by an out-of-state court. Section 2 addresses interstate comity, that is, harmony and cooperation among the states. Its first clause grants the citizens of each state the privileges and immunities of the citizens of other states, preventing states from discriminating against non-residents in favor of their own citizens. Its second clause addresses when a person accused of a crime flees from one state to another, requiring the state where the fugitive is found to return him to the state where he has been charged with a crime, upon proper demand.

Sections 3 and 4 concern the states’ relationships to the National Government. Section 3 grants Congress two important powers: to admit new states into the union, and to govern federal territories and property. Through Section 4, known as the Guarantee Clause, the United States promises to protect the states against foreign invasion and domestic insurrection, and to ensure that each state has a Republican Form of Government.

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**Article 5**: This article sets forth procedures for amending the Constitution.

Most of the Article’s text addresses the proposal and ratification of amendments. Two sentences at the end of the Article make certain subjects unamendable. Since the Founding, Congress has used Article V’s procedures to propose thirty-three constitutional amendments. The states have ratified twenty-seven of these proposed amendments, which include the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, thereby making them part of the Constitution.

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**Article 6**: Article VI establishes that the Constitution, U.S. laws, and treaties made under the authority of the United States are the Nation’s supreme law and are binding on state judges notwithstanding any state constitution or law.

Article VI also expressly provides that the new U.S. government established under the Constitution remained bound by the obligations of the predecessor governments established under the Articles of Confederation and Continental Congresses. In addition, Article VI provides that federal and state executive and judicial officers as well as members of federal and state legislatures shall take an oath to support the Constitution. Finally, Article VI expressly bars using religious tests as a qualification to hold any Office or public Trust under the United States. 

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**Article 7**:Article VII:

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

In Owings v. Speed1 the question at issue was whether the Constitution operated upon an act of Virginia passed in 1788. The Supreme Court held it did not, stating in part:

The Conventions of nine States having adopted the Constitution, Congress, in September or October, 1788, passed a resolution in conformity with the opinions expressed by the Convention, and appointed the first Wednesday in March of the ensuing year as the day, and the then seat of Congress as the place, ‘for commencing proceedings under the Constitution.'

Both Governments could not be understood to exist at the same time. The New Government did not commence until the old Government expired. It is apparent that the government did not commence on the Constitution being ratified by the ninth State; for these ratifications were to be reported to Congress, whose continuing existence was recognized by the Convention, and who were requested to continue to exercise their powers for the purpose of bringing the new Government into operation. In fact, Congress did continue to act as a Government until it dissolved on the 1st of November, by the successive disappearance of its Members. It existed potentially until the 2d of March, the day proceeding that on which the Members of the new Congress were directed to assemble.

The resolution of the Convention might originally have suggested a doubt, whether the government could be in operation for every purpose before the choice of a President; but this doubt has been long solved, and were it otherwise, its discussion would be useless, since it is apparent that its operation did not commence before the first Wednesday in March 1789 . . . .