More of that “conservative” reverence for the Constitution in action:

The House GOP leadership recently announced an at-best unnecessary plan to require every bill to be accompanied by “constitutional authority” statement explaining why Congress has the power to enact the bill. Yet this plan may not be enough for some of their caucus’ most conservative members. As Herb Jackson reports, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) is leading an effort to use this new constitutional authority rule to eliminate Congress’ power to do pretty much anything:

[S]pending on public education and local transportation projects are just two of the unconstitutional programs Garrett cited when asked for examples.

“I’ve asked this question to prior secretaries of education when they appeared before me in various committees, ‘What is your constitutional authority to do what you’re doing?’ And they will simply say Congress authorizes us to do so. Congress can’t authorize something that is not in the Constitution,” said Garrett, R-Wantage.

Garrett is part of a movement, cheered by the Tea Party and derided as “tenthers” by critics, who argue that a strict reading of the Tenth Amendment prohibits much of what the federal government does every day. […] House Republicans have proposed a new rule requiring all legislation to contain a statement describing what part of the Constitution provides the authority to act. Garrett has advocated for an even tougher rule.

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Source

His new rule would require every bill and amendment to cite a specific power granted to Congress in the Constitution. Oh, and the General Welfare clause or citing something as “Necessary and Proper” wouldn’t be enough:

garrett.house.gov

Seriously — what is it with these nutjobs and their hatred of any sort of functional government?