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Congressmen Cohen Presides at a Hearing Examining Potential Reforms of Emergency Powers

Press Release

Date: May 17, 2022
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations

Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today presided at a hearing examining the potential reforms of the 1976 National Emergencies Act and presidential emergency powers.

Chairman Cohen noted that the Subcommittee examined emergency powers at a hearing in 2019 when then-President Trump attempted to use emergency powers to divert billions of dollars in military construction funding to build a border wall.

In his opening statement, Congressman Cohen said in part:

"Congress passed the National Emergencies Act during a period of post-Watergate reforms after it became increasingly concerned that presidential emergency powers were becoming unwieldly and over-extended. Before 1976, no statutory procedures existed for the presidential declaration of a national emergency, and Congress had no defined supervisory role…

"The American people deserve our continued vigilance on this matter. They deserve to know that a President cannot re-write the law or exploit obscure loopholes in an effort to abuse power."


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