Democrats in the West Wing Ask if President Trump Has Too Much Emergency Executive Power

By Aidan Reifsnyder

According to multiple sources from inside the West Wing, President Donald Trump's use of his emergency executive powers, including the president’s ability to deploy the national guard on states, have become an increasingly concerning habit. Many Democrats are attempting to majorly reduce Trump’s emergency executive power. But, what are the pros and cons that limiting this power would present?

Based on the information from the interview conducted with Ben Cheney-Lang, this article will review some of the pros and cons that this change would show. The pros that will be covered in this article consist of: less fear of an authoritarian government and safety of ideals. The cons that will be covered consist of: possible lack of emergency response speed and the worry that amending law would take far too long.  

The first pro covered is that there would be less fear of an authoritarian government. There are many things that some Democrats are worried about, however an interview with Democratic staffer Ben Cheney-Lang narrows down the focus that the West Wing is taking. Mr. Cheny-Lang says, “There have been countless issues, such as the Insurrection Act, the President’s ability to deploy the National Guard on states, the lack of transparency, and the Presidential Emergency Act from the 1970s.” The second pro covered is safety of ideals. This safety is very important because if ideals are discarded, then how will the government avoid becoming totally corrupt? It is important to the Democratic Party at this time, because they are concerned that Trump will try to take too much power and find a loophole in the checks and balances in our government. 

For the con side of this article we will first be covering the lack of emergency response speed, an imperative topic of discussion. The response time that the president has to country-wide emergencies is something that affects the entire country's population. For example, after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush was able to respond quickly because he had the emergency power and resources. This new proposition to reduce President Trump’s emergency power could result in a slower speed of response, and that will possibly lead to the endangerment of the American people. The second con that will be covered is the worry that amending law will take too long. If this amending is too slow, all hopes of preserving ideals and the goal of counteracting an authoritarian government could go down the drain. In this instance and many others, debate could last too long and result in more possible unwanted outcomes for the American people. 

In conclusion, this move by the Democratic Party hopes to preserve ideals and keep the people of America feeling safe from an authoritarian government. How do you feel about these possible changes to president Trump’s emergency power?