Last week, Hungarian President Viktor Orbán used the coronavirus as an excuse to secure emergency legislation giving him permanent dictatorial powers. President Trump has long admired Orbán and emulated the democracy-undermining strategies that brought Hungary to this point — demonizing opponents; seeking bogus corruption investigations against opposition politicians; using vicious rhetoric, economic pressures, and licensing threats to undermine independent media; and whipping up hatred of immigrants.
President Trump also has copied Orbán in destroying the rule of law and honest government by subjugating the executive branch of government to his will. He has made it clear to every government employee that standing up for the law or truth in opposition to Trump triggers dismissal. For example, he's conducted a campaign of retaliation against executive branch employees who dared testify truthfully to his corruption during the impeachment process, and just last week, fired the intelligence community's inspector general who followed the law by forwarding to Congress the original whistleblower complaint about his "perfect call" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump's autocratic approach to expertise has facilitated the spread of the coronavirus, as he dismantled the apparatus in place to prepare for and deal with a pandemic and caused leading experts to resign, and he has repeatedly used White House coronavirus briefings to blunt needed public health warnings by substituting his imagined "common sense" for the advice of actual experts.
Even more importantly, President Trump has proven quite willing to exploit this crisis to undermine our democracy by dividing Americans and subjugating political opposition. When epidemiologists began warning us that the coronavirus posed a serious public health threat, Trump labeled the disease outbreak a Democratic hoax. When governors besieged by the COVID-19 outbreak pleaded with him to use powers to procure life-saving ventilators, he responded by suggesting that they must praise him in order to get them. These are the actions of an autocrat, not an American president.
We seem unable to adapt to the new autocratic reality. Commentators and ordinary citizens keep focusing on the president, urging him to suddenly become competent and interested in serving the public. But Trump is only interested in serving himself and augmenting his personal power, and that will not change. In this context, the old habit of granting the president additional power to deal with an emergency will not work. He will not use that power responsibly to combat the coronavirus and its effects. Instead, he will exploit it to further undermine American democracy.
To the extent Congress has already delegated authority, it must exercise vigorous oversight. But going forward, it should recognize that Trump administration defiance of oversight authority has made it extremely hard to secure sound and lawful administration through that approach.
Congress should not grant the president any discretionary authority. Indeed, it should avoid, as much as possible, merely authorizing expenditures. Instead, it must mandate specific government employees known to be trustworthy to spend monies in very precise ways by dates certain whenever possible, with strict enforcement provisions in place to make sure the mandates are carried out.
Congress should, whenever possible, circumvent the federal government entirely and empower state governments. For example, it should amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to authorize state governors to require production of needed health supplies at cost, perhaps with consultation requirements among states to minimize conflicts. Absent an act of Congress, states probably lack the constitutional authority to order businesses outside their borders to produce anything. But a congressional act can grant this power to states under its Commerce Clause authority, at least during an emergency. Indeed, the Founders expected states to take the lead in enforcing federal law because they did not foresee the growth of the federal bureaucracy. Still, Congress should provide that lawsuits against state use of Defense Production Act authority must wait until after the supplies are delivered and paid for in this emergency, as extraterritorial state action may trigger constitutional challenges. Congress should consider delegating to states in many situations in which it would normally delegate power to the executive branch of the federal government.
The governors of at least the most hard-hit states could band together to create a purchasing consortium to secure needed hospital supplies. They can do this informally, but if they create a formal interstate compact, Congress should ratify it.
It is very hard to face up to a health crisis, a financial crisis, and a political crisis at the same time. But Hungary teaches us that this is what we must do.
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David Driesen | April 8, 2020
Last week, Hungarian President Viktor Orbán used the coronavirus as an excuse to secure emergency legislation giving him permanent dictatorial powers. President Trump has long admired Orbán and emulated the democracy-undermining strategies that brought Hungary to this point — demonizing opponents; seeking bogus corruption investigations against opposition politicians; using vicious rhetoric, economic pressures, and licensing threats to undermine independent media; and whipping up hatred of immigrants. Trump's autocratic approach to expertise has facilitated the spread of the coronavirus, as he dismantled the apparatus in place to prepare for and deal with a pandemic and caused leading experts to resign, and he has repeatedly used White House coronavirus briefings to blunt needed public health warnings by substituting his imagined "common sense" for the advice of actual experts.
David Flores | April 7, 2020
With all the talk of the "new normal" brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, we cannot lose sight of how government policies and heavy industry continue to force certain populations and communities into a persistent existential nightmare. Polluted air, poisoned water, the threat of chemical explosions – these are all unjust realities that many marginalized and vulnerable Americans face all the time that are even more concerning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing could make these injustices more outrageously apparent and dangerous than EPA’s signaled retreat on environmental standards and enforcement, which cravenly takes advantage of the global pandemic and a rapidly expanding economic collapse.
Joseph Tomain | April 3, 2020
The coronavirus has already taught us about the role of citizens and their government. First, we have learned that we have vibrant and reliable state and local governments, many of which actively responded to the pandemic even as the White House misinformed the public and largely sat on its hands for months. Second, science and expertise should not be politicized. Instead, they are necessary factors upon which we rely for information and, when necessary, for guidance about which actions to take and about how we should live our lives in threatening circumstances.
Katie Tracy | April 3, 2020
Amazon's response to the coronavirus pandemic is the latest in a long line of instances where the company has put profit ahead of the health, safety, and economic well-being of its workforce. According to Amazon employees at its fulfillment centers and Whole Foods stores, the company is refusing to provide even basic health and safety protections for workers in jobs where they could be exposed to coronavirus.
Daniel Farber | April 2, 2020
The states have been out in front in dealing with the coronavirus. Apart from President Trump's tardy response to the crisis, there are reasons for this, involving limits on Trump's authority, practicalities, and constitutional rulings.
Joseph Tomain | April 2, 2020
In this time of pandemic, we are learning about our government in real time – its strengths and weaknesses; the variety of its responses; and about our relationship, as citizens, to those we have elected to serve us. Most importantly and most immediately, we have learned the necessity of having a competent, expert regulatory structure largely immune from partisan politics even in these times of concern, anxiety, and confusion.
Michael C. Duff | April 1, 2020
Front-line health care workers and other first responders are in the trenches of the battle against the COVID-19 virus. The news is replete with tragic stories of these workers fearing death, making wills, and frantically utilizing extreme social distancing techniques to keep their own families sheltered from exposure to the virus. Should they contract the virus and become unable to work, they may seek workers' compensation coverage, which is the primary benefit system for workers suffering work-related injuries or diseases.
David Flores | April 1, 2020
Hundreds of thousands of Americans, from the southern California surf town of Imperial Beach to the rowhouse-lined blocks of Baltimore, are banding together to bring lawsuits against several dozen of the most powerful and wealthy corporations in the world. In March, 2020, CPR hosted the third installment of its climate justice webinar series. The webinar focused on the growing climate tort litigation movement, explored why litigants are bringing these suits, and discussed where we may see additional litigation in the next several years.
Brian Gumm | March 31, 2020
On March 27, the Center for Progressive Reform joined environmental justice, public health, and community advocates in calling out the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for suspending enforcement of our nation's crucial environmental laws. The agency made the move as part of the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, despite mounting evidence that increased air pollution worsens COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.