Trump’s Backwards Federalism Could Actually Work
Even if the president can’t mandate the states to reopen their economies, he can still do plenty to force that outcome.
Things unraveled the usual way.
Earlier this week, that whether to “open up the states” and restart the economy “is the decision of the President,” not state governors. He doubled down on his position at an afternoon White House news conference, where he added that, as president, he has “total” authority on the subject. Fact-checkers and legal experts , citing, as usual, both the Constitution and Trump’s own prior statements. Trump lacks the legal authority to override the safety measures put in place by the states, they pointed out, whether to impose the lockdowns in the first place.
