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COVID National Emergency Explainer

Masood Farivar

   WASHINGTON - With the World Health Organization classifying the global
   coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump announced
   late Wednesday a series of emergency measures, including an
   unprecedented 30-day suspension of all flights from Europe.

   But Trump, who spoke from the Oval Office, stopped short of resorting
   to an even more dramatic measure urged by some members of Congress: a
   national emergency proclamation under the 1976 National Emergencies
   Act.

   The administration already has declared the coronavirus outbreak a
   public health emergency, giving local health officials greater
   flexibility to respond to the crisis. A national emergency declaration
   would put a vast reservoir of additional powers at the president's
   disposal by triggering sweeping authorities contained in more than 100
   statutes, according to Elizabeth Goitein, director of the Brennan
   Center for Justice's Liberty & National Security Program.

   "When a president declares an emergency declaration, he at that moment
   has access to all of the laws that say in a national emergency the
   president can do X, whether or not those powers relate to the emergency
   at hand," Goitein said.

   Some of the additional authorities allow for a "reasonable and very
   measured" response to an emergency,according to Goitein.For example,
   hospitals could receive regulatory waivers in order to set up off-site
   facilities.

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