House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee
Never Ending Emergencies – An Examination of the National Emergencies Act
Subcommittee hearing to examine the National Emergencies Act.
Witnesses:- Soren Dayton, Director of Governance, Niskanen Center
- Satya Thallam, Policy Advisor, Arnold & Porter
- Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director, Liberty and National Security Program, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law
The NEA establishes a framework to provide enhanced congressional oversight for measures taken in response to a national emergency declared by the President. It establishes procedures for declarations of national emergencies, requiring their publication and congressional notification of the measures to be invoked. Enacted in 1976 to rein in presidential emergency powers, the NEA provides a framework to apply whenever the President wishes to employ any “power or authority” granted by statute for use during a national emergency. The NEA further provides that a national emergency will end (1) automatically after one year unless the President publishes a notice of renewal in the Federal Register, (2) upon a presidential declaration ending the national emergency, or (3) if Congress enacts a joint resolution terminating the emergency (which would likely require the votes of two-thirds majorities in each house of Congress to override a presidential veto). Although one purpose of the NEA was to end perpetual states of emergency, the law does grant the President authority to renew an emergency declaration. There are currently dozens of national emergency declarations in effect, some of which have been renewed for decades. Almost all deal with economic sanctions with foreign countries.