Today, the structure of law granting exceptional emergency powers is a grave threat to democracy and an avenue toward authoritarian rule.
Donald Trump has figured out the cheat code for authoritarianism: Fake emergencies bring real power. The president has invoked emergency authority in three distinct contexts—declaring a public-safety emergency to defend his takeover of the District of Columbia; claiming an “invasion” to justify an immigration crackdown, including sending the National Guard to Los Angeles; and invoking “extraordinary” factors to support his tariff war. Although Trump is not the first president to grab greater powers behind the cloak of emergency authority, he is the first to have done so in such an extreme way. Worse yet, the lack of resistance from Congress or the courts suggests that there is little, if anything, to prevent Trump from expanding his use of “emergency” authority even further as he accumulates power.
