Professor Andrew Kent was quoted in a Newsday article on President Trump’s previous statements on his “total authority” to reopen the economy.
A day after President Donald Trump asserted he had “total authority” over states in reopening the economy, he backed away on Tuesday, saying governors would make such decisions without any pressure from him.
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“I don’t think it’s a particularly hard question. The president clearly doesn’t have the authority to force states to lift lockdown measures,” said Andrew Kent, who teaches and writes about constitutional law at Fordham University Law School.
Not even under emergency powers, statutes or through the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Kent said: “It’s not even close.”