The Emergency Powers of the President

[Canadian Visitor]

In discussing the issue of whether the current president can use the Emergency powers of the office in respect of wall building.....something was brought to my attention.

It turns out, presidents have used this power rather a lot.

Moreover, they've used in a great deal in times of peace.

Sometimes for reasons that seem dubious in the moment.

None of that will surprise folks here, no matter one's politics.

What may surprise you is....

31 of those 'national emergency' powers exercises are still in effect today; even though some date back to the 1970s.

Many of these certainly don't seem like emergencies, and certainly they are matters that could have come before congress subsequently for authorization.

To suggest that the 'anchorage of movement of vessels with respect to Cuba was a national emergency in 1996 seems a profound stretch....that it apparently has been an unending emergency these last 22 years.....defies all logic.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/polit...ncy/index.html

All of which is to say..........

Irrespective of party or politics, is it time to revisit the scale and scope of emergency power in the hands of any president?

Should an 'emergency' have some kind of definition?

Should 'emergency powers' have an expiry if their use does not get renewed by Congress. [[currently a president may renew these orders on their own)?

Should Congress have a specific right to veto the exercise of said powers be it with a simple majority or super majority?

Should the law proscribe certain limitations on the use of said power?

[Richard]

There are already stop gaps in the process,I would agree that it has been abused and still is.

During the Korean War, a labor strike slowed down production of steel, which in turn put a halt to production of much-needed equipment and weapons. In 1952, President Harry Truman called upon emergency power to seize private steel mills that were not producing enough steel, arguing that the United States could not successfully wage a war without sufficient materials to keep the military forces properly equipped.

In the case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v Sawyer, the Supreme Court ruled that no power of the Commander in Chief, nor emergency power, gave the president the authority to seize private property without approval of Congress.

https://legaldictionary.net/emergency-power/

The framers of the constitution came from Europe where every scenario that any form of government could come up had already happened,I think they did a pretty good job of condensing it all down to what it is while covering all the bases.

I do not think Trump will invoke it for a wall because it would then open the door for future presidents,it is a slippery slope to go down and to risky.

The one thing I noticed when states declare a state emergency in the case of a disaster,there are caveats thrown in there.

If one requests help from FEMA during a emergency declared disaster they have to sign a release,where in the fine print, if you are excepting their help on your property you are also giving them excess to your property inside and out for up to a year with no recourse or notice.

A president can claim and implement a national emergency but there are stop gaps and repercussions and if it was done without true cause then there will be a price to pay.

[Danny]

Government shutdown, emergency executive action or not. President "Reichfuhrer" Trump got the American people under his knees. Trump supporters voted for him, and they got duped!!! Trump is making America Great again Whoop dee doo!!!