Trump claims he has 'total' authority over when states can reopen

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 14 April 2020

President Trump on Monday declared that his "authority is total" when it comes to deciding how and when states reopen their economies.

He made this claim after the governors of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Rhode Island announced they will coordinate their plans to reopen once it's safe to do so. Each state has come up with its own approach to shutting down amid the coronavirus pandemic; California was one of the earliest states to limit large gatherings and ask people 65 and older to stay home, while Arkansas has yet to issue a stay-at-home order.

During his daily coronavirus briefing, Trump told reporters that when "somebody's president of the United States, the authority is total. And that's the way it's got to be. It's total. It's total. And the governors know that." He went on to assert that governors "can't do anything without approval from the president of the United States." CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins pushed Trump on this, telling him this wasn't true and asking several times who told him that the president has total authority over the states. Trump did not answer, and finally told her, "Enough."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Several Republicans also called Trump out for his remarks, with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) quoting the 10th Amendment and tweeting, "The federal government does not have absolute power." Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, a Republican witness during the impeachment inquiry into Trump, tweeted that the Constitution "was written precisely" to deny Trump's claim that the president's authority is total. "It also reserved to the states (and individuals) rights not expressly given to the federal government," he added.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox