President Trump has frequently threatened to declare a national emergency in order to build the border wall.
JUST IN: Pres. Trump says he’s considered declaring a national emergency to circumvent congressional approval to allocate funds for border wall: “We can call a national emergency because of the security of our country… I haven’t done it, I may do it.” https://t.co/cOHXje4LUF pic.twitter.com/DWay2YzddE
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 4, 2019
And it’s often stirred the pot, particularly among his critics on both sides of the aisle, where some have called it authoritarian or explained that it would set a dangerous precedent.
But the precedent of “national emergencies” is far more extensive than one might expect.
Under President Gerald Ford, the National Emergencies Act was enacted into law in September 1976. It gives the president and the executive branch special powers to act unilaterally on almost anything barring a veto-proof majority vote from Congress.
As of February 2019, 58 national emergencies have been declared, and 31 are currently in effect.
The longest running national emergency dates back to President Jimmy Carter, 10 days after the Iran hostage crisis began. Carter declared a state of emergency, freezing all Iranian government assets held within the United States. That’s still in effect. Since then, presidents have declared national emergencies blocking property or suspending entry to certain persons from countries at odds with the U.S., such as North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Yemen, and Venezuela.
It may even surprise you that President Trump, himself, has already declared a national emergency on three occasions.
Trump’s first national emergency came in December 2017 when he imposed sanctions on human rights abusers and corrupt actors around the world. His second came in September 2018 when his administration imposed sanctions on foreign actors who intended to interfere in the 2018 midterm election, given what happened in the 2016 presidential election. And finally, in November 2018, Trump declared a national emergency by imposing sanctions against certain persons contributing to the violence perpetrated by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s regime.
So, while some might try to paint Trump as a dictator if he uses a national emergency to build a border wall, it’s well worth remembering that in America, a state of emergency is an every day occurrence.
