The weekend deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, invoked by President Trump as an ’emergency act,’ isn’t up for debate. It’s understood that presidents have the authority to use emergency powers to deal with situations of national or international security. How they use those powers, and if they’re warranted, is another issue. Yet, presidents in the past understood the significance of using emergency powers and rarely used them, if at all. Trump, on the other hand, has invoked emergency powers almost as often as he’s penned his name to executive actions — and that’s what alarms many constitutional experts.
In his first 100 days alone, Trump declared eight national emergencies — more than any modern president — and to date, has issued 21 total, often using them to bypass Congress and advance domestic policy priorities. Critics argue that many of these emergencies, from addressing the nation’s longstanding trade deficit to claiming an “energy emergency” amid no fuel shortage, are not immediate crises but political tools. Legal scholars warn that using emergency powers in this manner could dangerously tip the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches, eroding essential democratic checks.
Historically, presidents reserved emergency declarations for clear crises — acts of war, natural disasters, or imminent national threats. Trump’s pattern, experts note, increasingly uses them as an end-run around Congress on matters of policy. With ongoing legal challenges to these moves and some already heading toward the Supreme Court, the rulings could determine whether future presidents will face limits on this sweeping authority — or wield it with few constraints.
As the courts deliberate, everyday Americans are left to grapple with the real-world impacts of policies enacted under the guise of “emergency,” while Congress — long the intended check on such power — struggles to reassert its role. Whether this expansion of presidential power will prove a temporary phase or a lasting shift in governance remains one of the most consequential questions facing American democracy today. Go beyond the headlines…
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