Presidential emergency action documents emerged during the Eisenhower administration as a set of plans to provide for continuity of government after a Soviet nuclear attack. Over time, they were expanded to include proposed responses to other types of emergencies. As described in one declassified government memorandum, they are designed “to implement extraordinary presidential authority in response to extraordinary situations.”
Of course he has to act within accordance of the constitution. If he didn't he's be removed from office. — neonspectraltoast
It is chilling to know that the president has powers not even congress knows about. Trump could be referring to those. Let’s hope we do not see them during this crisis. — NOS4A2
The past few weeks have given Americans a crash course in the powers that federal, state and local governments wield during emergencies. We’ve seen businesses closed down, citizens quarantined and travel restricted. When President Trump declared emergencies on March 13 under both the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act, he boasted, “I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about.”
The president is right. Some of the most potent emergency powers at his disposal are likely ones we can’t know about, because they are not contained in any publicly available laws. Instead, they are set forth in classified documents known as “presidential emergency action documents.”
These documents consist of draft proclamations, executive orders and proposals for legislation that can be quickly deployed to assert broad presidential authority in a range of worst-case scenarios. They are one of the government’s best-kept secrets. No presidential emergency action document has ever been released or even leaked. And it appears that none has ever been invoked.
These documents consist of draft proclamations, executive orders and proposals for legislation that can be quickly deployed to assert broad presidential authority in a range of worst-case scenarios.
From the December report that concluded the FBI was justified in its investigation. So it's neither news nor important.
Trump has always been oblivious to a lot of things. Like that the FBI has as one of it's core missions to keep a watch on the actions of hostile foreign intelligence services in US. Who could have known?When a reporter pointedly asked who made the ad, Trump replied that it was made by a few people in his administration, apparently oblivious to the fact that it’s illegal to use public resources for campaign purposes. — praxis
Trump claims that he has absolute authority over Governors. How is that consistent with federalist principles?He has operated according to federalist principles: supporting the states in their efforts, providing funds and assets where needed. — NOS4A2
Federalism does not serve us well in this pandemic. Consider the ventilator problem: if each state is on its own, this creates two problems: 1) the states compete with each other for a scarce resource, ensuring winners and losers, and driving up the price.2) each state has to manage for its own peak needs. Add together 50 peak requirements is bound to be considerably higher than the national peak, because the peaks will not be concurrent.
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