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1 1 (March 1, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzid0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ *.Research Service - a Definition of National Emergency under the National Emergencies Act March 1, 2019 States and various organizations have filed a number of lawsuits challenging President Trump's proclamation of a national emergency in order to secure funding for the construction of physical barrier along the U.S. southern border. The lawsuits assert that no national emergency exists and that the President has overstepped his authority. Some observers are concerned that the declaration of a national emergency under present circumstances will set a precedent for future presidents to declare national emergencies to override Congress on other policy matters. Others have raised alarm about the number of and nature of statutes that provide the President specific authorities once he has proclaimed a national emergency. The National Emergencies Act (NEA), described in a previous Legal Sidebar post, provides a framework for the President to declare a national emergency, but does not define what may constitute a national emergency. Accordingly, assuming that the plaintiffs have demonstrated standing to bring suit, a court may turn to statutory canons, such as the ordinary meaning doctrine, or to the legislative history of the NEA and related statutes to determine the meaning of national emergency for purposes of the NEA. A court could also look to pre-NEA precedent to evaluate whether a particular declaration squares with Congress's expectations at the time of the NEA's enactment. On the other hand, a court may also declare that the NEA provides insufficient judicially manageable standards according to which a court could review the validity of a national emergency declaration. In such a case, the court would find the question non-justiciable under the political question doctrine. Finally, a court may conclude that the absence of a definition and deference to the President's constitutional powers evidence an intent to leave the definition to the President's discretion. Still, a court may be able to determine the propriety of any action taken pursuant to an emergency statute without first having to determine whether a national emergency exists. Ordinary Meaning The Supreme Court has held that: A fundamental canon of statutory construction is that, unless otherwise defined, words will be interpreted as taking their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10267 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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