This edifice of extraordinary powers has historically rested on the assumption that the president will act in the country’s best interest when using them. Other powers are available even without a declaration of emergency, including laws that allow the president to deploy troops inside the country to subdue domestic unrest. For instance, the president can, with the flick of his pen, activate laws allowing him to shut down many kinds of electronic communications inside the United States or freeze Americans’ bank accounts. While many of these tee up reasonable responses to genuine emergencies, some appear dangerously suited to a leader bent on amassing or retaining power. The moment the president declares a “national emergency”-a decision that is entirely within his discretion-more than 100 special provisions become available to him. Read: The coronavirus outbreak could bring out the worst in Trumpīut will they? Unknown to most Americans, a parallel legal regime allows the president to sidestep many of the constraints that normally apply. Those who see Trump as a threat to democracy comfort themselves with the belief that these limits will hold him in check. After all, Trump can do only so much without bumping up against the limits set by the Constitution and Congress and enforced by the courts. It would be nice to think that America is protected from the worst excesses of Trump’s impulses by its democratic laws and institutions. The moment the president declares a “national emergency”-a decision that is entirely within his discretion-he is able to set aside many of the legal limits on his authority. As democracies around the world slide into autocracy, and nationalism and antidemocratic sentiment are on vivid display among segments of the American populace, Trump’s evident hostility to key elements of liberal democracy cannot be dismissed as mere bluster. He declared that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, would be in jail if he were president, goading crowds into frenzied chants of “Lock her up.” He hinted that he might not accept an electoral loss. During his 2016 campaign, he praised murderous dictators. Trump has long signaled his disdain for the concepts of limited presidential power and democratic rule. More is at stake here than the outcome of one or even two elections. How much further might he go in 2020, when his own name is on the ballot-or sooner than that, if he’s facing impeachment by a House under Democratic control? These measures failed to carry the day, and Trump will likely conclude that they were too timid.
PRESIDENT DECLARE MARTIAL LAW FULL
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