Ten (Really Bad) Ideas for a "National Emergency" Order for the Next Democratic President

Yesterday, I offered my view that courts—including the Supremes— would rule that President Trump exceeds his constitutional authority by using national emergency powers to build the wall. I might be wrong. If so, here are some ideas for the next Democratic president.

1.     Build decent migrant centers and schools with unappropriated military funds on downsized or abandoned military bases in the U.S.

2.     Declare homelessness as a national emergency: Same idea as Point 1 but use funds for homeless shelters, job training, and essential health care.

3.     Declare lack of basic medical care as a national emergency: Use unappropriated military funds to provide urgent-care treatment at community based military recruitment centers, and call up reservists with medical backgrounds to treat Americans.

4.     Declare Spanish as an official language and order the Code of Federal Regulations to be published in a bilingual format (it would play to the Democratic base).

5.     Ban employers from hiring permanent replacements for strikers. President Clinton actually did this. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he had no authority for this rule—but the Supreme Court never ruled on it, so go ahead with the idea.

6.     Declare a national emergency for women who lack access to abortions in states that essentially regulate this reproductive right out of existence— then withhold federal grants for states and communities that block Roe v. Wade.

7.     Declare a national emergency for infrastructure and impose an additional 25-cents per gallon “interstate rebuilding fee.”

8.     Declare intolerance as a national emergency—then order all schools— including parochial schools that receive funds— to teach a federal-government generated curriculum on multicultural diversity or lose this money.

9.     Order all federal contractors to build unisex bathrooms to accommodate transgender people—or be barred from working for the federal government.

10.Declare a national emergency over lies in political discourse: Use executive branch authority to fine stations or withdraw FCC licenses from talk radio stations that promote lies and falsify facts.

Feel free to share your really bad “national emergency” ideas for the next Democratic president, assuming that President Trump’s authority to build a wall is upheld.