Laurence Tribe: There are "national emergencies" . . . and then there are NATIONAL EMERGENCIES

IDEAS

Trump’s Reasonable—And Yet Still Worrisome—Emergency Declaration

Americans must be alert to abuse of the president’s powers, both emergency and nonemergency, in ways that violate civil liberties without safeguarding the public’s health.

MARCH 16, 2020
Elizabeth Goitein
Co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center

When President Donald Trump issued emergency declarations in response to the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, many Americans didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or to call the American Civil Liberties Union. Trump’s negligence in addressing the growing crisis had been galling to watch. But when a president with autocratic tendencies invokes emergency powers, red flags start to wave. Should Americans be encouraged by the president’s action—or deeply worried?

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