RSN: FOCUS: Neal K. Katyal | It's the Worst Possible Time for Trump to Make False Claims of Authority

15 April 20

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15 April 20

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FOCUS: Neal K. Katyal | It's the Worst Possible Time for Trump to Make False Claims of Authority

Neal K. Katyal, The New York Times
Excerpt: "He does not have 'total' authority over states."

teach my law students that every so often in the law, the best way to understand the veracity of a claim is just to say it out loud. They got a great example of this on Monday when President Trump made a contribution to the legal lexicon: “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total.”

In terms that would even have made President Richard Nixon blush, our commander-in-chief sounded more like the leader of some tinpot dictatorship than of the United States.

Our Constitution was designed to reject such arrogation of power. Separation of powers and federalism aren’t fusty concepts designed to please rebellious aristocrats; they are the living embodiment of our founders’ desire to divide and check power — not vest “total” “authority” in one person, no matter how wise that person may be.

EXCERPT:

It is true that the Constitution and laws give presidents enormous powers in defense and foreign policy as well as in emergencies. Indeed, one other thing I tell my students is that if you are the president in a time of emergency, it takes real effort to make a claim so outlandish that it can’t be supported. But Mr. Trump managed to do exactly that. The 10th Amendment could not be clearer in forming the flip side to the Declaration’s grievance against King George III: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” And the health authorities at issue in the response to the coronavirus crisis are the ones at the heart of state governments — what scholars have called “the police power” for decades.

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