President Trump and governors disagree about the next steps for the economy
Despite the severity of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, current research from the CDC indicates the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are steadily decreasing.
Because of this, President Donald Trump wants to start reopening businesses to boost the economy, according to a White House press conference held on Monday.
“America will again and soon be open for business,” Trump said.
Trump later went on Twitter to elaborate on his plan.
“Policymakers have taken bold public health and economic actions to address the coronavirus, but businesses need clarity. Otherwise, they will assume the worst and make decisions to survive,” Trump said.
Trump’s statements have caused controversy within the political world, particularly concerning state governors who disagree with the president. These state governors and several health organizations believe that reopening nonessential businesses will put citizens more at risk of contracting the coronavirus and cause the number of COVID-19 cases to surge again. Although cases are decreasing, the virus is still highly active in the nation.
Although the Democratic Party has been blamed for disagreeing with the president on this matter, The New York Times reported, “In many parts of the country, governors from both parties said they were a long way off from telling Americans to go back to work and to their normal lives.”
Upon receiving backlash for his decision to reopen nonessential businesses, Trump asserted that he had “total authority” over state governors.
“The president of the United States calls the shots. They can’t do anything without approval from the president of the United States,” Trump said.
This is not true. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution provides the U.S. with a system of checks and balances, meaning the president does not have complete authority over everything.
The 10th Amendment also gives power to the states, if they are not given explicitly to the federal branch. This includes issues such as healthcare and defines federal regulatory power. As such, several state governors have begun to oppose Trump’s statements.
The Democratic party has been particularly vocal.
“Seeing as we had the responsibility for closing the state down, I think we should have the primary responsibility of opening it back up,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in an interview with The New York Times.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also shared her opinion.
“The government doesn’t get opened up via Twitter, it gets opened up at the state level,” Whitmer said.
Although it has not been decided if state governors will completely go against Donald Trump’s wishes, several governors have already begun to create coalitions with other governors in order to determine how to move forward.
The governors of Oregon, Washington and California have decided to come together and form the Western States Pact. This pact ensures that states work together in order to rebuild the economy, while keeping its citizens’ health as the main priority.
In an official statement, Gov. Gavin Newson announced, “Our residents’ health comes first. Modifications to our states’ stay at home orders must be based off of our understanding of the total health impacts of COVID-19.”