Learning How To Re-Curb the Executive Branch’s Unchecked Power

America’s forever emergency has been ongoing for over 40 years. Presidents from both political parties have resigned the law that keeps it in place. Since then, dozens of other declared states of emergency have been authorized, and never undone.

The Executive branch of the federal government continues to abscond with more powers under these orders. Congresses for generations have forgone their necessary obligations to stop emergency declarations after their emergencies have resolved. But an unresolved emergency, and an ongoing emergency declaration state, is responsible for so many of the problems our nation faces today.

Unmitigated spending occurs in emergency states.

So does the *kicking the can down the road* effect.

However, we have lived through so many generations that children are being born into this newfound state of emergency, with no grip on what a lack of emergency time looks and feels like.

We must return to a state without emergencies, and redefine what constitutes one.

We Are Still All Being Held Hostage By Jimmy Carter’s Ghost

On November 14, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed Executive Order 12170, freezing Iranian assets and declaring a national emergency in response to the Iran hostage crisis. What began as a dramatic but seemingly temporary response to a diplomatic standoff would quietly become the prototype for a new era of American governance – one where emergency powers, once granted, are never relinquished.

The Iran emergency, renewed by every president since Carter, remains the oldest continuing national emergency in U.S. history.

Its endurance is not a historical footnote, but a living legal foundation for decades of sanctions, diplomatic deadlock, and a permanent adversarial stance toward Iran. The crisis may have faded from headlines, but the emergency it spawned continues to shape American policy and executive authority.

The Architecture of Perpetual Power

The National Emergencies Act (NEA) of 1976 was designed as a reform, aiming to rein in the unchecked proliferation of presidential emergency powers that had accumulated during the 20th century. The NEA required presidents to specify which powers they were invoking and to renew emergencies annually, while Congress was tasked with reviewing and potentially terminating them.

But the NEA’s safeguards proved illusory. Emergencies could be renewed indefinitely with little more than a signature. Congress, meant to act as a check, rarely fulfills its oversight obligations. As a result, the architecture of emergency power has become a fixture of American political life – one that quietly expands with each new crisis.

The Growing Ledger of Unended Emergencies

Since the NEA’s passage, U.S. presidents have declared 90 national emergencies. As of 2025, 48 remain in effect – covering everything from foreign sanctions to domestic crises. Many are rarely discussed in public or in Congress, but each unlocked a toolkit of extraordinary powers: the ability to seize property, regulate commerce, call up the National Guard, and more.

The Iran emergency became like a prototype.

Others include sanctions on North Korea, Russia, and various African nations, as well as emergencies related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and cyber threats. 

Most are renewed annually with little debate, such as George W. Bush’s emergency declaration of September 14, 2001, related to the 9/11 attacks. That emergency declaration is another which every President after him has renewed automatically.

COVID-19 and the Manufacturing of a New Normal

If Donald John Trump never declared a state of emergency over COVID-19, countless lives would have been saved, economic devastation would have been avoided, and the mental stability of our society would have been more in tact. That order offers a vivid, recent example of how the United States has normalized living under extended states of emergency.

President Trump declared a national emergency in March 2020, unlocking sweeping powers for the federal government. Governors at the state level, and mayors at the local level had the opportunity (which many took advantage of) to follow suit. So despite political or rhetorical clamoring, both Democrats and Republicans at the highest levels of governance, authorized themselves emergency powers under an auspices of a deadly virus – a fear that was widely discredited in the following years.

The emergency was renewed repeatedly, not just by Trump but also by President Biden, and was only officially ended in April 2023 – more than three years later.

During this period, Congress failed to conduct its required six-month reviews six times, allowing the emergency to persist on autopilot. Had Congress checked in, in September of 2020, it would have been clear then that we did not need emergency restrictions. That meeting of Congress would have altered the course of the 2020 election, possibly leading to less confusion surrounding the results.

The COVID-19 emergency declaration illustrates the dangers of inertia: extraordinary powers become normalized, accountability fades, and the precedent is set for future crises to be met with indefinite emergency rule.

The COVID-19 emergency declaration also was a striking example of something that is not, was not, and would not be an emergency without the declaration.

What Donald Trump knew, if no other President before him did, was that the mere declaration of an emergency is enough to radically alter our societal order.

The Eleventh Party System and the Bipartisan Embrace of Crisis

What distinguishes the current political era – what I call the Eleventh Party System – is not just the frequency of emergencies, but their normalization as tools of routine governance. President Trump, in his 2025 term alone, has already declared eight new national emergencies in less than six months – a record pace. These declarations have been used not only for international crises, but to advance domestic policy goals, sidestepping Congress on issues like border security, trade, and energy.

Yet this is not simply a story of one president’s ambition.

Both parties have enabled the system.

Democrats and Republicans alike have renewed existing emergencies, including the original Iran order, regardless of who occupies the White House. Democratic leaders, while objecting to Trump’s use of emergency powers in the abstract, have shown little appetite for dismantling them, knowing they might one day inherit the same powers for their own use. The roots of this system are bipartisan.

Carter, a Democrat, was the first to invoke the modern emergency framework. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Obama, Trump, Biden, and now Trump again – all have allowed the emergency state to persist and expand. Congress, which was supposed to act as a check by reviewing emergencies every six months, has largely abdicated its responsibility.

Marketing the Emergency: Modern Media and Presidential Power

Trump’s approach to emergency powers is unprecedented in its aggressiveness and its marketing. He has used media campaigns to justify and celebrate his emergency declarations, framing each as a bold, necessary action in the face of crisis. Sometimes his stunts are clownish or comical, which often masks their cruelty and unusual nature.

Unlike previous presidents who invoked emergencies for clear, external threats, Trump often uses them to push domestic policy agendas that Congress has rejected.

But is this truly a new phenomenon, or simply a more visible one?

The tools for executive overreach were built long ago; what’s changed is the speed and scale at which they can be deployed in an era of instant communication, social media, and globalized economies.

The abuses may be more public, but the underlying dynamic – presidential aggrandizement enabled by congressional passivity – remains the same.

The Hidden Costs of Perpetual Emergency

Emergency powers, once invoked, allow presidents to bypass normal legislative processes, sometimes with little transparency or debate. They justify permanent sanctions and a war footing that outlasts the crises that spawned them. Civil liberties can be curtailed, property seized, and rights restricted – all in the name of an emergency that may have begun decades earlier.

The normalization of crisis has reshaped American political culture, eroding the distinction between normalcy and emergency. Americans have grown accustomed to living under multiple, overlapping states of emergency, rarely questioning the necessity or duration of these powers.

Lessons from History’s Cautionary Tales

America is not the first nation to abuse emergency powers.

Ancient Rome’s temporary dictatorships became a pathway to permanent autocracy. 

Weimar Germany’s emergency decrees enabled the collapse of democracy

 Modern democracies from France to India have used “temporary” emergencies to justify years – or decades – of extraordinary rule. The lesson is clear: emergency powers, if left unchecked, become the new normal, and democracy pays the price.

The Simplicity of Ending the Cycle

Despite the scale of the problem, the solution is surprisingly straightforward. Under the National Emergencies Act, Congress can terminate any national emergency by passing a joint resolution – a simple majority in both chambers. Congress could amend the law to require automatic expiration of emergencies unless explicitly renewed. The main obstacle is not legal complexity, but political will. Both political parties want to abscond with power using emergency declarations, so senior members will not be forcing change on the issue. Most Americans are unaware of how many emergencies are in force, or how easily they could be ended. Greater public scrutiny and media attention could pressure Congress to act.

The Only Declared Emergencies We Have To Fear Are Emergency Declarations Themselves

This satirical take on FDR’s classic quote about fear should awaken something in you.

The true crisis America faces right now is not even any single event, but the normalization of emergency rule itself – a legacy of bipartisan complicity, and a challenge that will persist until Congress reclaims its constitutional role. However, it is also true that due to these abuses of emergency powers, there are many examples of individuals whose liberty has been trampled on. Those stories have to be told in more focused ways, demonstrating their universal nature, rather than isolating people into sensationalized stories. Until then, America’s forever emergency will continue, quietly shaping the boundaries of power and the possibilities of democracy.