The Constitution gives Congress the power to create federal courts

Answer 1

The Constitution established only one federal court - The United States Supreme Court. In addition to this, Article III dictates that Congress can use its own discretion in the creation of LOWER federal courts to conduct the judicial business of the federal government.

More specifically, Section One of Article III lays out the structure and power of the judicial branch of our federal government, and also establishes the separation of powers (legislative, executive, judicial). It also defines concepts such as the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in Section Two, and treason (and empowering Congress to punish it) in Section Three).

It can be surprising how little the US Constitution actually says about a number of different things, including the number of justices on the Supreme Court! If you have additional questions or need help writing an essay about the relationship between the Constitution and Congress, feel free to reach out to me!