As the coronavirus outbreak worsens, could the 2020 elections be at risk? Can they be cancelled just like the NCAA today scrubbed its basketball tournament?
What if Trump declares a state of emergency and orders that elections be postponed to a later date?
Not possible you say? Think again.
The truth is we are in uncharted territory.
While it’s nice to think our laws and institutions protect us from a dangerous president and that a lawless chief executive can only do so much without bumping up against the limits set by the Constitution and Congress (and enforced by the courts), that just might not be the case.
Did you know 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?
While many of those concessions are geared to reasonable responses to genuine emergencies, some appear dangerously suited to a president eager to amass or retain power.
As Elizabeth Goitein writes in The Atlantic, “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. 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.”
The coronavirus pandemic has the potential of turning into a catastrophe the likes of which our country, and the world, has never seen… and a golden opportunity for Trump to remain in power until he declares the “emergency” over.
I fear the odds of Trump taking such drastic action will only increase as his odds of winning reelection decrease.
If we’ve learned anything by now it’s that Trump … and his Republican enablers … have total disdain for our Constitution and the rule of law.
The scary part is that, historically, the Supreme Court has often upheld declarations of “national emergency” or found ways to avoid reviewing them, at least while the crisis still remained.
Uncharted territory indeed!
Photo | wsj.com
I may never sleep again without nighty
Donald Trump has already pushed presidential power beyond where it would typically go, and threatened to do more. I remember when I first heard he asked if a president could pardon himself. Apparently, the president can, even though none have done so (that wouldn’t apply to violation of state law, though).
Could Trump call a state of emergency and postpone the election because of the coronavirus? I don’t see any rational reason for doing so, as you typically are not going to have hundreds of people close together at a polling place. But of course rationality has not been much of a deterrent for Trump in the past.
I’m not sure it would actually make much difference, though. I don’t think either the Democratic or Republican Party, or the Supreme Court, would support such an act for more than a minimum of time because it would temporarily strip away much of their power. I doubt if postponing the election for a month or two would make much difference.
But then again, a few years ago I thought there was no way Donald Trump could become the presidential candidate for a major party….
“And if I need to do something, I’ll do it. I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about.”
–Donald Trump, March 13, 2020
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-declares-national-emergency-responding-coronavirus-heres-means/story?id=69586419