With a certitude and confidence unseen in presidents since Ronald Reagan, America’s 45th chief executive warned if Democrats don’t provide money for a border wall,…
With a certitude and confidence unseen in presidents since Ronald Reagan, America’s 45th chief executive warned if Democrats don’t provide money for a border wall, he’ll likely get it by declaring a federal state of emergency.
Congress placed no barriers on presidential prerogatives to declare such states. Any such declaration will activate over 100 extraordinary powers to Trump, which will be nearly impossible to countermand.
Other presidents have used similar authority. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared that a state of emergency existed with Iran and blocked Iranian assets. That state remains in effect, along with 31 others issued by presidents since. Presidential declarations of states of emergency have transpired since Abe Lincoln’s administration. Under the 1976 National Emergencies Act, Congress can override such actions with a two-thirds vote in the U. S. House and Senate. However, in this case, that’s not in the cards.
Congress didn’t specifically define what is and isn’t a national emergency, says Professor Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas Law School. In an interview with NPR, he said, “it’s hard to imagine what criteria a federal court could use in trying to decide whether a national emergency was properly declared, or not.
