New York deaths continue to spike as the state releases a revised count. Other states begin to explore options towards reopening soon. President Donald Trump backed away from his statements that he had “total” authority to open states and pledged to work with governors instead.
What We Know:
- Trump has been under criticism for his handling of the response to the coronavirus and has seen his poll numbers drop. On Tuesday, he blamed the World Health Organization for what he called its failures in the crisis and said he planned to stop American funding of the organization.
- It wasn’t until today that Trump said he would work with the states, backing down from the “total authority” mentality to reopen the American economy himself, which was widely challenged by legal scholars and governors from both parties.
- The President stated in a briefing at the White House, “I will be speaking to all 50 governors very shortly, and I will then be authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening.”
For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020
- Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who is the chairman of the National Governors Association, pushed back after Trump posted the tweet above stating the decision to reopen states rested with him, not with governors.
- “It’s not my understanding of the Constitution,” Hogan said in an interview Monday on CNN. He essentially praised the cooperation of the federal government while implying ultimate authority was up to states and their governors.
A majority of the heated debate came from the White House briefing on Monday evening, where Trump claimed that “various provisions” in the Constitution gave him the authority to override states and governors actions. Legal experts say presidents have no such power.
