Current Events

State of Emergency

February 18, 2019 /

What is a National State of Emergency?

In the United States, declaring a state of emergency gives the president powers and authority which are not normally permitted, in the interest of addressing a crisis quickly, by bypassing the normal political process.

“Congress is too f**kin slow, we need to deal with this NOW” -Woodrow Wilson, probably

This is different than a state of emergency during a natural disaster, which allows access to emergency funds and activates various emergency response plans. A National State of Emergency just opens up extra powers to the president. 

 

How does it work?

The president declares a national emergency (through an Executive Order or a Proclamation), and has to state which powers he intends to use, issue updates if he intends to use any additional powers, provide Congress with emergency-related expenditures every 6 months, and then renew it every year. 

Congress can vote to deny National Emergency status, but that vote can be vetoed by the President, so to avoid that, they would have to have a two-thirds majority. 

All of this is from the National Emergencies Act passed in 1976, to reign in all the previous national emergencies and add some procedure and guidelines to the whole process. [Sorry Jimmy Carter, they were too scared of your power]

“Oh oops, are we still at war with Korea?!” -Congress, 1973

 

How often has this happened in the past?

Since 1976, presidents have declared a total of 59 national emergencies, and 32 are still active. They have mostly been sanctions against groups or nations that threaten national security, sometimes trade regulations or weapons restrictions, and only one time before, call for military action.

National Emergency Declarations Since 1976

See the New York Times interactive article detailing each declaration, also where I got that graph

Here is the breakdown by president:

  • Jimmy Carter: 2 (1 still active)
  • Ronald Reagan: 6 (0 still active)
  • George Bush: 5 (0 still active)
  • Bill Clinton: 17 (6 still active)
  • George W. Bush: 13 (11 still active)
  • Barack Obama: 12 (10 still active)
  • Donald Trump: 4 (4 still active)
 

Ok, so what’s the big deal?

On February 15, 2019, Trump declared a national emergency regarding illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States in order to obtain funding for a wall along the southern border. This is the first time a national emergency has been declared on something Congress has already addressed and voted against. 
 
There is no defined precedent for this particular situation. In the National Emergencies Act, there are 2 specific powers that Trump can attempt to invoke to build the wall, one calls for the redirection of funds for military projects that have already been approved by Congress, the other would require the president to prove the wall amounts to a military construction. Neither of these relate directly to what Trump says he wants to do, so it is possible the courts could declare his proclamation unconstitutional. 
 
There are also questions of whether the situation constitutes an emergency as defined by the law. This raises concerns that Trump’s declaration is a misuse of the National Emergencies Act and amounts to an attempt to expand presidential powers without cause. 

 

 

Sources

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