OPINION:
The National Emergencies Act is a law that gives the president of the United States the authority to declare a national emergency.
Under this law, the president can utilize 148 temporary tyrannical powers. In theory, this law provides the president with the ability to respond quickly and effectively to events that require immediate attention, such as the ability to redirect funds from previously congressionally approved programs to address the emergency, but this is rarely the case.
Importantly, Section 202 of the law mandates that Congress consider a joint resolution to terminate a national emergency no later than six months after it has been declared and within every six months after that.
Resolutions terminating national emergencies are subject to privileged consideration in the House and Senate. In addition to required congressional review, the president is required to provide Congress with periodic national emergency expenditure reports (50 USC 1641(c)). Despite repeated bicameral requests, no such expenditure report related to the COVID-19 national emergency has been produced by the Biden administration.
Perhaps surprisingly, there are 41 declared national emergencies still in effect in the United States. The oldest active national emergency declaration dates as far back as 1979. Most national emergency declarations still in effect include those related to foreign affairs, including but not limited to Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
While national emergency declarations are ostensibly meant to focus on protecting the well-being and safety of American citizens, without proper congressional oversight, the added authority provided to the president can lead to the expansion of executive power and abuse. For example, in 2003, President George W. Bush declared a national emergency and cited it as the legal basis for the invasion of Iraq, despite the fact that Iraq was not actually a threat to the national security of the United States. This decision was an abuse of executive power, violated international law, and undermined the authority of Congress.
More recently, President Biden used the COVID-19 national emergency powers to justify his bogus student loan forgiveness scheme, claiming that the pandemic created a hardship that made it difficult to repay college loans. The White House has even publicly acknowledged that it is bypassing Congress and “repurposing unobligated emergency COVID relief” funds to no doubt advance their “woke” agenda.
Thankfully, after more than two years of no oversight, Congress finally passed and Mr. Biden signed into law House Joint Resolution 7, legislation I led terminating the COVID-19 national emergency declaration.
Such is not the case regarding the 41 active emergency declarations. Congress has failed to perform its most basic constitutional duty: checking the powers of the executive branch. Not once has Congress reviewed any of these extended emergency declarations, as required by law. The result? These 41 national emergency declarations exist seemingly in perpetuity because Congress has not reclaimed its constitutional power of the purse or use of sanctions.
Congress must rein in executive powers and recover its Article 1 authority. No president, regardless of party, should be handed a blank check and endless special powers that can be used to circumvent the normal democratic process, exceed their constitutional authority, and violate the balance of power. It is crucial that the use of the NEA be subject to scrutiny, ensuring that it is used only when truly necessary and swiftly reviewed for termination when no longer justified.
The law governing national emergency declarations envisions that they are short-lasting and require congressional review and oversight.
Fortunately, under the NEA, resolutions terminating national emergencies are privileged for consideration in the House and Senate. It is time for Congress to debate and vote to terminate all national emergency declarations.
• Paul Gosar is an American politician who has represented Arizona’s 9th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023 and represented Arizona’s 4th Congressional District from 2013 to 2023.
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