President Joe Biden has pledged sweeping action on climate change but struggled to deliver it. A legal scholar explains why a national emergency declaration should be a last resort.
Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to help end the shortage of baby formula.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Biden said the Defense Production Act would help end the shortage by directing suppliers of baby formula to prioritize delivery to formula manufacturers.
Global Climate Strike NYC in New York, Sept. 20, 2019.
Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch /IPX via AP Photo
Declaring an issue is a national emergency lets presidents act quickly and with few constraints. But once they get this kind of power, it’s hard to take it back – and it can produce bad policies.
From Julius Caesar to Adolf Hitler, history is replete with examples of emergency powers being used to damage the very constitutional order they were designed to protect.