Kurt Ullman wrote:
In article , dpb wrote:

But, by any reasonable interpretation, a body of 10,000 would be so
unworkable as to make it "necessary and proper" to limit the number in
order to effectively be able to execute the powers...

But the actual number is still there and the courts tend to put much
more weight on what is there than what should be. You don't have to be a
terribly strict constructionist to acknowledge that the figure is there
in black and white with nothing saying otherwise about how well it is
supposed to work. Heck, wouldn't surprise me in the least that the
Founders put that in to MAKE it unweildy and hard to get things done.
(g).

You allude to a point I intended to make...

One would have to go back and look at the historical record of how the
number actually got into the final document, but it would not surprise
me at all that it is there not in order to actually determine the
overall size of the body but to ensure against gerrymandering. If,
indeed such were the context, the actual magnitude of the number itself
could be argued to be valid on in a relative sense in even a (somewhat)
strict (as opposed to literal) interpretation.

The War Powers Act, while an interesting question, is irrelevant to this
one...

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