Transcript
On Monday President Trump rebuked state leaders in his White House address, claiming he has “total authority” to decide to lift restrictions governors have imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The president asserted he can override state governors’ restrictions if they conflict with his plans to reopen the country for business.
This is after governors on the East and West coasts announced Monday they were forming their own regional pacts to work together to help fight the outbreak and hopefully reopen their local economies.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and six other East Coast state leaders are teaming up.
The states are pledging to create coordinated plans before lifting stay-at-home orders and reopening establishments like businesses and schools while limiting the threat of new outbreaks.
On the West Coast, California, Oregon and Washington’s state governors are working together.
When to relax stay-at-home orders has been an area of heated debate both nationally and locally.
Though the President has asserted that he has authority to determine when the economy will reopen, there is no legislation that explicitly gives the President the power to override states’ public health measures.
Posted – 4.14.20