Can a President “Order” a Private Company? Truman and Trump Push the Limits

President Donald Trump decreed on Friday that American companies must cut ties with China, tweeting that the U.S. firms “are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative.”

There is a bit of a parallel, this involving an anticipated strike by steelworkers at Youngstown Sheet & Tube.

In the midst of the Korean War, President Harry Truman ordered the federal government to seize and run this key steel manufacturing plant. With his Secretary of Commerce operating the plant, Truman planned to keep the mill open by preventing a strike or ordering replacements to take over the jobs left by strikers.

Owners of the company argued that a president has no power, not even as Commander-in-Chief, to take private property by issuing an executive order.

The Supreme Court sided with the company. The decision (Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer) is the single most important check on a president’s executive power.

Current conservatives on the Court— most notably, Justice Brett Kavanaugh— have argued for a more expansive reading of presidential powers. And two justices in the Youngstown case believed that Truman had constitutional authority to takeover a plant to make munitions during a war.

With Justice Ruth Ginsburg battling pancreatic cancer, I am not entirely certain the Youngstown case will be the farthest limit on presidential power— a broader precedent cannot be ruled out.

Postscript for all students: When your textbook says that the three branches of government are "co-equal," this is as true as saying the earth is flat.