Secret Presidential Powers (PEADs)

JLW

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Sep 16, 2012
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Before any Mods put this thread under conspiracy theories, the President does have a litany of emergency powers that most Americans are unaware. When Trump said, "I have the right to do a lot of things that people don't even know about," it was one of the few times he was not lying.

These emergency powers are in documents called PEADS, Presidential Emergency Action Documents :

According to Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of its national security program at the NYU Brennan Center, PEADS :

"They originated in the Eisenhower administration as part of an effort to try to plan for a potential Soviet nuclear attack," Goitein said. "But since then, they've expanded to address other types of emergencies as well. No presidential emergency action document has even been released, or even leaked. Not even Congress has access to them, which is really pretty extraordinary when you consider that even the most highly-classified covert military and intelligence operations have to be reported to at least eight Members of Congress, the 'Gang of Eight.'"

..... "Congress is not aware of these documents, and from public sources we know that at least in the past these documents have purported to do things that are not permitted by the Constitution – things like martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus and the roundup and detention of people not suspected of any crime."


So what are these powers: According to the Brennan Center there are 123 powers the president has when he declares a national emergency. An additionaal13 powers when Congress declares an emergency


Some highlights from the Brennan Center:



  • Emergency powers cover almost every imaginable subject area, including the military, land use, public health, trade, federal pay schedules, agriculture, transportation, communications, and criminal law.

  • Some of the laws stand out as particularly alarming in what they authorize and in their potential for abuse. One statute, for example, would allow the president to suspend a law that prohibits the testing of chemical and biological weapons on unwitting human subjects. Section 706(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 allows the president to shut down or take over radio stations. If she proclaims a threat of war, she can go further and take over wire communications facilities as well. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) allows the government to freeze any asset or block any financial transaction in which a foreign national has an interest, even if the asset belongs to an American or the transaction is between Americans. (See our piece in The Atlantic for more on these authorities.)

  • Of the 136 authorities available to the president in a national emergency, 96 require nothing more than her signature on the emergency declaration.

  • Although the very concept of “emergency” suggests a temporary, short-term event, states of emergency last a long time, and they’re getting longer. Thirty-four of the 62 states of emergency declared since the National Emergencies Act was passed are still in effect today. The average duration of declared emergencies is 9.6 years.** Twenty-five emergencies have lasted 10 years or longer; 13 of these were declared between 2001 and 2008. The longest-lasting emergency, Blocking Iranian Government Property, was first declared in 1979 on the heels of the hostage crisis and has been persistently renewed for 39 years.*


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What was disturbing and not in the above synopsis above is that John Yoo, the attorney who wrote the memo justifying "enhanced interrogation" after 9/11, was recently called in by Trump to discuss PEADs.

The nation has been fortunate to have presidents that have exercised self-restraint even when their administrations were in crisis. Example Nixon. We will see what happens when we have a president where self- restraint is anathema to his very being.

Regardless of Trump Is it smart for our republic to give the President vast secret powers that even members of Congress are unaware?




:
 
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Before any Mods put this thread under conspiracy theories, the President does have a litany of emergency powers that most Americans are unaware. When Trump said, "I have the right to do a lot of things that people don't even know about," it was one of the few times he was not lying.

These emergency powers are in documents called PEADS, Presidential Emergency Action Documents :

According to Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of its national security program at the NYU Brennan Center, PEADS :

"They originated in the Eisenhower administration as part of an effort to try to plan for a potential Soviet nuclear attack," Goitein said. "But since then, they've expanded to address other types of emergencies as well. No presidential emergency action document has even been released, or even leaked. Not even Congress has access to them, which is really pretty extraordinary when you consider that even the most highly-classified covert military and intelligence operations have to be reported to at least eight Members of Congress, the 'Gang of Eight.'"

..... "Congress is not aware of these documents, and from public sources we know that at least in the past these documents have purported to do things that are not permitted by the Constitution – things like martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus and the roundup and detention of people not suspected of any crime."


So what are these powers: According to the Brennan Center there are 123 powers the president has when he declares a national emergency. An additionaal13 powers when Congress declares an emergency


Some highlights from the Brennan Center:



  • Emergency powers cover almost every imaginable subject area, including the military, land use, public health, trade, federal pay schedules, agriculture, transportation, communications, and criminal law.

  • Some of the laws stand out as particularly alarming in what they authorize and in their potential for abuse. One statute, for example, would allow the president to suspend a law that prohibits the testing of chemical and biological weapons on unwitting human subjects. Section 706(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 allows the president to shut down or take over radio stations. If she proclaims a threat of war, she can go further and take over wire communications facilities as well. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) allows the government to freeze any asset or block any financial transaction in which a foreign national has an interest, even if the asset belongs to an American or the transaction is between Americans. (See our piece in The Atlantic for more on these authorities.)

  • Of the 136 authorities available to the president in a national emergency, 96 require nothing more than her signature on the emergency declaration.

  • Although the very concept of “emergency” suggests a temporary, short-term event, states of emergency last a long time, and they’re getting longer. Thirty-four of the 62 states of emergency declared since the National Emergencies Act was passed are still in effect today. The average duration of declared emergencies is 9.6 years.** Twenty-five emergencies have lasted 10 years or longer; 13 of these were declared between 2001 and 2008. The longest-lasting emergency, Blocking Iranian Government Property, was first declared in 1979 on the heels of the hostage crisis and has been persistently renewed for 39 years.*


View attachment 375689

******************************************************************************



What was disturbing and not in the above synopsis above is that John Yoo, the attorney who wrote the memo justifying "enhanced interrogation" after 9/11, was recently called in by Trump to discuss PEADs.

The nation has been fortunate to have presidents that have exercised self-restraint even when their administrations were in crisis. Example Nixon. We will see what happens when we have a president where self- restraint is anathema to his very being.

Regardless of Trump Is it smart for our republic to give the President vast secret powers that even members of Congress are unaware?




:

The powers and limitation of The President are written in Art. I and Art II of COTUS. Even though some of COTUS is ambiguous and interpreted by the Supreme Court, we have to hope that the Separation of Power will prevent a megalomaniac in the White House from destroying democracy by Executive Orders and declaring faux emergencies. We can protect this by voting OUT Trump and McConnell.
 
Last edited:
Before any Mods put this thread under conspiracy theories, the President does have a litany of emergency powers that most Americans are unaware. When Trump said, "I have the right to do a lot of things that people don't even know about," it was one of the few times he was not lying.

These emergency powers are in documents called PEADS, Presidential Emergency Action Documents :

According to Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of its national security program at the NYU Brennan Center, PEADS :

"They originated in the Eisenhower administration as part of an effort to try to plan for a potential Soviet nuclear attack," Goitein said. "But since then, they've expanded to address other types of emergencies as well. No presidential emergency action document has even been released, or even leaked. Not even Congress has access to them, which is really pretty extraordinary when you consider that even the most highly-classified covert military and intelligence operations have to be reported to at least eight Members of Congress, the 'Gang of Eight.'"

..... "Congress is not aware of these documents, and from public sources we know that at least in the past these documents have purported to do things that are not permitted by the Constitution – things like martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus and the roundup and detention of people not suspected of any crime."


So what are these powers: According to the Brennan Center there are 123 powers the president has when he declares a national emergency. An additionaal13 powers when Congress declares an emergency


Some highlights from the Brennan Center:



  • Emergency powers cover almost every imaginable subject area, including the military, land use, public health, trade, federal pay schedules, agriculture, transportation, communications, and criminal law.

  • Some of the laws stand out as particularly alarming in what they authorize and in their potential for abuse. One statute, for example, would allow the president to suspend a law that prohibits the testing of chemical and biological weapons on unwitting human subjects. Section 706(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 allows the president to shut down or take over radio stations. If she proclaims a threat of war, she can go further and take over wire communications facilities as well. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) allows the government to freeze any asset or block any financial transaction in which a foreign national has an interest, even if the asset belongs to an American or the transaction is between Americans. (See our piece in The Atlantic for more on these authorities.)

  • Of the 136 authorities available to the president in a national emergency, 96 require nothing more than her signature on the emergency declaration.

  • Although the very concept of “emergency” suggests a temporary, short-term event, states of emergency last a long time, and they’re getting longer. Thirty-four of the 62 states of emergency declared since the National Emergencies Act was passed are still in effect today. The average duration of declared emergencies is 9.6 years.** Twenty-five emergencies have lasted 10 years or longer; 13 of these were declared between 2001 and 2008. The longest-lasting emergency, Blocking Iranian Government Property, was first declared in 1979 on the heels of the hostage crisis and has been persistently renewed for 39 years.*


View attachment 375689

******************************************************************************



What was disturbing and not in the above synopsis above is that John Yoo, the attorney who wrote the memo justifying "enhanced interrogation" after 9/11, was recently called in by Trump to discuss PEADs.

The nation has been fortunate to have presidents that have exercised self-restraint even when their administrations were in crisis. Example Nixon. We will see what happens when we have a president where self- restraint is anathema to his very being.

Regardless of Trump Is it smart for our republic to give the President vast secret powers that even members of Congress are unaware?




:

The powers and limitation of The President are written in Art. I and Art II of COTUS. Even though some of COTUS is ambiguous and interpreted by the Supreme Court, we have to hope that the Separation of Power will prevent a megalomaniac in the White House from destroying democracy by Executive Orders and declaring faux emergencies. We can protect this by voting OUT Trump and McConnell.
Exactly.

The people are the ultimate check on executive overreach and abuse – through Congressional oversight, through the impeachment process, and ultimately the political process.

It is indeed imperative that Trump be voted out of office this November.
 

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