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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency - The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/(My emphases/bold)
Most of his weapons were rhetorical, featuring a mix of lies and false inducementsclaims that every congressional Democrat had signed on to an open borders bill (none had), that liberals were fomenting violent mobs (they werent), that a 10 percent tax cut for the middle class would somehow pass while Congress was out of session (it didnt). But a few involved the aggressive useand threatened misuseof presidential authority: He sent thousands of active-duty soldiers to the southern border to terrorize a distant caravan of desperate Central American migrants, announced plans to end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship by executive order, and tweeted that law enforcement had been strongly notified to be on the lookout for ILLEGAL VOTING.
These measures failed to carry the day, and Trump will likely conclude that they were too timid. How much further might he go in 2020, when his own name is on the ballotor sooner than that, if hes facing impeachment by a House under Democratic control?
More is at stake here than the outcome of one or even two elections. Trump has long signaled his disdain for the concepts of limited presidential power and democratic rule. During his 2016 campaign, he praised murderous dictators. 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. As democracies around the world slide into autocracy, and nationalism and antidemocratic sentiment are on vivid display among segments of the American populace, Trumps evident hostility to key elements of liberal democracy cannot be dismissed as mere bluster.
The moment the president declares a national emergencya decision that is entirely within his discretionhe is able to set aside many of the legal limits on his authority.
It would be nice to think that America is protected from the worst excesses of Trumps impulses by its democratic laws and institutions. 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. Those who see Trump as a threat to democracy comfort themselves with the belief that these limits will hold him in check.
But will they? Unknown to most Americans, a parallel legal regime allows the president to sidestep many of the constraints that normally apply. The moment the president declares a national emergencya decision that is entirely within his discretionmore than 100 special provisions become available to him. While many of these tee up reasonable responses to genuine emergencies, some appear dangerously suited to a leader bent on amassing or retaining power. 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. 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.
This edifice of extraordinary powers has historically rested on the assumption that the president will act in the countrys best interest when using them. With a handful of noteworthy exceptions, this assumption has held up. But what if a president, backed into a corner and facing electoral defeat or impeachment, were to declare an emergency for the sake of holding on to power? In that scenario, our laws and institutions might not save us from a presidential power grab. They might be what takes us down.
It seems likely that this is part of his playbook (how do you say that in russian?)
northoftheborder
(7,572 posts)MineralMan
(146,286 posts)of days. No problem.
erronis
(15,241 posts)And it really takes more than a couple of days.
(Oh, now I understand that you were being a tad sarcastic.....)
roamer65
(36,745 posts)There would be a repeat of the Hartford Convention of 1814.
erronis
(15,241 posts)but I'm not sure where the rifts will develop.
This is probably the intent of the agents that are trying to damage the US democracy.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,106 posts)erronis
(15,241 posts)I have become tired - fatigued - from the constant drips of evil that come from the repuglicons and this administration. It has been really tempting to step away from the hourly/daily/weekly news feeds and chatter that tell me how these bastards have worked to undermine democracy.
I've never stopped caring and listening. The last couple of weeks have given me hope that the crap is being cleared and we can finally "clean his swamp", and clean his clock.