Excerpt: "He does not have 'total' authority over states."
President Trump, joined by Vice President Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force, delivers remarks and answers questions from members of the press during the coronavirus update briefing Friday, April 10, 2020. (photo: Shealah Craighead)
15 April 20
He does not have “total” authority over states.
teach my law students that every so often in the law, the best way to understand the veracity of a claim is just to say it out loud. They got a great example of this on Monday when President Trump made a contribution to the legal lexicon: “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.”
In terms that would even have made President Richard Nixon blush, our commander-in-chief sounded more like the leader of some tinpot dictatorship than of the United States.
Our Constitution was designed to reject such arrogation of power. Separation of powers and federalism aren’t fusty concepts designed to please rebellious aristocrats; they are the living embodiment of our founders’ desire to divide and check power — not vest “total” “authority” in one person, no matter how wise that person may be.
