CONCLUSION| 49Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court all must interpret the Constitu-
tion in the normal course of playing their institutional roles. The general and ambig-
uous language of the Constitution means that both supporters and opponents of the
Tea Party can stake a claim to having views that are informed by the Constitution.
When a Tea Party advocate claims that the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional
because it is not specifi cally mentioned in the document, the other side can point
out that under that logic the Air Force is unconstitutional as well (the Constitution
mentions Congress’s power to support the Army and Navy, but obviously not the Air
Force). Furthermore, Tea Party opponents would say, the commerce clause and the
necessary and proper clause give Congress all the power it needs.
The Constitution’s fl exibility and general language mean that there will never
be defi nitive answers to the confl ict over its meaning, but they ensure that these
debates will be enduring and meaningful.