Total Authority

President Trump flexed his executive power and claimed that he has total authority over the reopening of states impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Trump made the remarks at a White House news conference today, which reiterated tweets from him earlier in the day in which he said that reopening states was not up to governors but “is the decision of the president.”

“The president of the United States has the authority to do what the president has the authority to do, which is very powerful. The president of the United States calls the shots,” Trump said. “They can’t do anything without the approval of the president of the United States.”

One reporter brought up the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution that orders powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total, and that's the way it's got to be. It’s total, and the governors know that,” Trump said during the news conference.

But when it comes to a public health crisis like the one we are facing today, states have quite a bit of say. Because the effect of an infectious disease on a locality is generally better understood by local authorities, states have had the power to decide when and how to contain illness at the local level.

Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law, said last month that the president simply cannot override state-mandated “shelter in place” orders issued during the coronavirus crisis. That would be unconstitutional. “He is free to advocate,” Chesney said.

My own observation:  Trump was not willing to make a national stay-at-home order.  He now says he will know “in his head” when the time is right.