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No, the President Can’t Tax Americans by Calling Tariffs “Emergency Policy”

By Liam ChildersThe Trump Administration is trying to sell the latest tariff battle as a response to trade imbalances and foreign economic pressure, but the actual issue is largely domestic. Indeed, the most recent ruling in Burlap and Barrel, Inc. v. Trump demonstrates that the question at hand is whether the president can levy taxes on Americans by rebranding his perceived economic grievances as a statutory emergency. After its […]

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The Dangerous Normalization of Emergency Powers

Recent Presidential administrations of both parties have demonstrated just how dangerous unchecked emergency powers can be. Unless Congress acts now, the next president will inherit, and almost certainly expand, a set of extraordinary authorities that were never intended to address long-standing policy problems and continue to use them as an “end-run around Congress.” The National […]

Unlawful Actions for Good

By Kevin Schmidt and Thomas KimbrellWhat if instead of unlawfully abusing emergency powers for bad things, presidents unlawfully abused them for “good” things? That’s the argument Berkeley Law Professors Elena Chachko and Katerina Linos make in their paper “Emergency Powers for Good,” published in the William & Mary Law Review. They reiterate that emergency powers […]

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Rep. Obernolte Questions Secretary Raimondo on Abuse of the DPA 

This week, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) grilled Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the Department’s invocation of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to create new reporting requirements to regulate AI in a Commerce budget hearing.   Instead of defending the use of the DPA, Sec. Raimondo instead provided other examples of DPA use, like semiconductors, as to […]

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AFP Foundation letter to Senate committee: the president’s emergency powers should be for emergencies only

By Thomas Kimbrell and Kevin Schmidt May 23, 2024 | The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) held a hearing yesterday titled “Restoring Congressional Oversight Over Emergency Powers; Exploring Options to Reform the National Emergencies Act.” AFP Foundation sent a letter to the Committee describing the problematic implications of the president’s effectively unlimited executive powers […]

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Sen. Ted Cruz and Phil Gramm on DPA Misuse in the AI Executive Order

March 26, 2024 | Yesterday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and former Senator Phil Gramm published an article in the Wall Street Journal decrying the Biden Administration’s overreach in the AI Executive Order:  Particularly painful is Mr. Biden’s use of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to force companies to share proprietary data regarding AI models […]

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House Oversight Subcommittee Slams DPA Abuse in AI Executive Order

March 21, 2024 | Yesterday, the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation held a hearing entitled “White House Overreach on AI.” Led by Chairwoman Nancy Mace, the hearing covered how White House Executive Order on AI abuses the Defense Production Act of 1950 (“DPA”) and improperly bypasses the legislative role of Congress, creating […]