The President’s Secret Powers
PEADs could hold the key to locking up American democracy for good
“I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about.” President Trump March 12, 2020
We can’t be certain, but President Trump could have been referring to the presidential emergency action documents, or PEADs as it’s more commonly referred to. With an election approaching, many Americans are becoming concerned about President Trump’s access to emergency powers which could allow him the ultimate stockpile of power he craves.
On Sunday August 16, 2020, Ted Koppel of CBS investigated PEADs and discussed his fears with Elizabeth Goitein, who warned Americans about President Trump’s aggression toward liberal democracy over a year and a half ago.
In January 2019, Goitein, the co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice national security program and a writer at The Atlantic, wrote in her article, The Alarming Scope of the President’s Emergency Powers,
“As democracies around the world slide into autocracy, and nationalism and antidemocratic sentiment are on vivid display among segments of the American populace, Trump’s evident hostility to key elements of liberal democracy cannot be dismissed as mere bluster.”
It’s time for Americans to reach beyond parties and political faces. This election isn’t about republicans and democrats. It’s about retaining our democratic values of liberty, equality, and justice.
What are PEADs
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) are executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared in anticipation of a range of emergency scenarios.”
PEADs have been kept “secret” since their creation during the Eisenhower Administration so as not to alarm the American people. The documents have never been declassified or leaked, according to research from the Brennan Center for Justice, nor are they subject to congressional oversight.
Brennan Center for Justice has researched PEADs and they’re reported that these powers range from declaring martial law to seizing control of the internet. Other areas of control include suspending the writ of habeas corpus by presidential order, permitting search and seizure of persons and property, and authorizing censorship of news reports.
In the Atlantic Goitein wrote, “For instance, the president can, with the flick of his pen, activate laws allowing him to shut down many kinds of electronic communications inside the United States or freeze Americans’ bank accounts.”
Former Senator Gary Hart told Koppel that he had only just learned of these “secret” documents. He said that they appear to allow suspension of the Constitution. Indeed, when a president declares a “national emergency,” more than “100 special provisions become available to him.”
The information the Brennan Center for Justice has gathered is based on the many unclassified and de-classified documents that discuss PEADs. On their site, the Brennan Center of Justice wrote, “one recent government document describes them (PEADs) as designed “to implement extraordinary presidential authority in response to extraordinary situations.” ”
Koppel is concerned and stated his fears on CBS Sunday Morning. He said, “The notion that there are executive powers based on something that has never been vetted by Congress, giving the president almost limitless powers to do what he needs to do in the event of a crisis, that’s not funny to me; that’s scary.”
Shake off complacency
“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.” President Trump April 13, 2020
There are legal limits to a president’s authority set by the Constitution and Congress, even upheld in courts of law. However, at his own discretion, a president can declare a “national emergency,” thereby pushing aside those legal limits of protection.
We cannot depend on these legal limits to secure our freedom. When a president is in place who is obsessed with amassing and retaining power, it’s time to shake off our nation-wide complacency. These “secret” powers in the hands of a president who is hostile toward American democracy, could be deadly for our nation.
Goitein wrote these words 18 months ago. I hope she is not a prophet.
“What if a president, backed into a corner and facing electoral defeat or impeachment, were to declare an emergency for the sake of holding on to power? In that scenario, our laws and institutions might not save us from a presidential power grab. They might be what takes us down.”
To learn more about the history of PEADs, visit the Brennan Center for Justice.
