The enabling clause of the Fourteenth Amendment grants Congress authority to enforce the equal protection and due process guarantees by appropriate legislation. Which clause is this?

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The enabling clause is in Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which says Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. This language gives Congress the authority to pass statutes that remedy and prevent violations of the equal protection and due process guarantees contained in the Amendment. The phrase “by appropriate legislation” is key: it authorizes Congress to design and implement measures to enforce those protections, not to define the rights themselves.

The other options miss this specific grant of enforcement power. The Dormant Commerce Clause relates to limits on state regulation of interstate commerce. Presidential foreign power concerns the president’s authority in international affairs. Delegation refers to Congress entrusting some of its legislative functions to agencies, not to a constitutional provision that authorizes enforcement of constitutional guarantees.