Presidential "emergency" powers

 New Republic -  In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, giving presidents broad emergency powers. Initially, Congress included a check on this authority, including in the bill a provision that it could rein in an emergency declaration by the president through a vote. But the Supreme Court overturned that check in the 1983 case of INS v. Chadha, while leaving in place the president’s largely unrestrained emergency powers.

Presidents have taken advantage of this: Ronald Reagan used the NEA six times during his eight years in office, including to impose sanctions on apartheid South Africa. Bill Clinton used it a whopping 18 times to do things like stop Iran from enriching uranium and thwart Middle Eastern terrorism. George W. Bush declared an emergency 14 times, in every instance against specific foreign entities related to terrorism or antidemocratic efforts in nations like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Barack Obama acted similarly, and so did Trump, predominantly, in his first administration, with the exception of his use of it to bypass Congress in the construction of a Southern border wall. Joe Biden was accused of taking emergency powers too far, as well, when he tried to apply them to his plan for student loan debt relief in the wake of Covid, but beyond that he used this congressionally granted authority in typical ways: to address actual and identifiable threats.

Since retaking office, Trump has declared eight national emergencies in just a few short months. He’s used the NEA to militarize the Southern border against “invasion” and to enact tariffs against the entire world. He declared a national energy emergency, even though no such emergency exists, so that he can push through more fossil fuel permits.