The Scene staff
On Jan. 25, the federal government ended a 35-day partial shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. All because our beloved president didn’t get funding from Congress for his border wall, which for the record, he had promised Mexico would pay for.
Throughout negotiations, Trump threatened to declare a national emergency, which would allow him to take funds allocated to other agencies and programs and use them to build a wall. He called the declaration a “very powerful weapon” but insisted that he didn’t really want to use it.
Unfortunately, the president used that weapon on Feb. 15, when he declared a national emergency. It made me feel uneasy and caused my blood pressure to skyrocket, and I know many other people felt the same way. So I did what I do best: research.
First, let’s dissect the government shutdown. Even though it’s over, it’s good to have an understanding of what happened, especially because there have been 21 shutdowns in U.S. history.
Government employees aren’t paid during shutdowns. Some have to keep working without pay. Others are told to stay home on “furlough.”
I ran across a story by Kevin Breuninger, a reporter with CNBC, that helped explain the impact of a partial government shutdown. It was published on Dec. 21, 2018, the day before the last shutdown began.
Cost to the nation: $11 billion
He wrote that more than 420,000 federal employees would continue to work and not be paid until the shutdown ended. Homeland Security employees also were affected, including Transportation Security Administration employees and many from the Coast Guard, Forest and National Park Services, IRS, Housing and Urban Development and Transportation Department.
“All of that lost work could cost taxpayers huge amounts of money,” Breuninger wrote.
After the shutdown ended, NBC News reported that it cost the nation $11 billion, including $3 billion that would never be recovered. “CBS This Morning” reported that it could take the IRS up to a year to get back to normal, noting that 5 million pieces of mail went unopened during the shutdown. Not good.
After I completed my research on government shutdowns, I turned my attention to national emergencies. I found a good background piece, written by Deanna Paul and Colby Itkowitz, reporters for the Washington Post.
“In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, which permits the president to pronounce a national emergency when he considers it appropriate,” they wrote. “The act offers no specific definition of ‘emergency’ and allows a president to declare one entirely at his or her discretion. By declaring a national emergency, the president avails himself or herself of dozens of specialized laws. Some of these powers have funds the president otherwise could not access.
“Under current law, emergency powers lapse within a year unless the president renews them. A national emergency can be re-declared indefinitely, and, in practice, that is done frequently. There have been 58 pronounced under the National Emergencies Act, of which 31 are still in effect.”
How is a national emergency different from an executive order? National emergencies are usually declared through executive orders. These are commands issued by the president that carry the force of law.
The power is authorized, in part, by Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Executive orders direct federal agencies on how to spend available resources. Thousands have been created by past presidents, covering topics as varied as the duties of the commander-in-chief.
The U.S. Supreme Court has only rarely held an executive order invalid, including one issued by President Harry S. Truman in 1952 that seized the country’s steel mills during the Korean War, and another issued by President Bill Clinton in 1995 involving workers on strike.
Congressional hurdles
Executive orders don’t create new law or allocate additional funding, which is where Trump has run up against congressional hurdles. After his inauguration, he issued an executive order making construction of a wall across the southwest U.S. border a federal priority. But a wall needed funding, and Congress has “power of the purse” under the Constitution.
I wonder how all this will affect our country. I wonder how it already has affected government employees and their families. I wonder if Trump is sitting back and thinking about the trauma suffered by the people he claims to “dearly love” and he is “fighting” for.
I know American citizens hear news from other countries and are often horrified by what is going on. When I tell people I’m from Afghanistan, their reaction is usually, “Oh, you poor thing,” or “I’m happy you are here in America.”
While I don’t disagree with these sentiments, I can’t help but believe that Americans also have traumatic experiences. It’s not the same as someone throwing a grenade on your house and having to rush to safety so your limbs can stay attached, but it’s trauma just the same.
A deep depression
A president is someone we should look up to for guidance, someone who tells us we are safe, not someone who instills fear and hatred for people of different races. In Afghanistan, at least people know their government is against them. In America, Trump is mind-f—king people, giving them false hope, making empty promises and separating the country.
When President Barack Obama was in office, people weren’t so stressed out. They didn’t always agree with him, but they felt more at ease, knowing he wasn’t going to sink the county. I felt as if there was hope for equality.
Under President Trump, America is in deep depression. We can feel the toxic energy he is spreading, but we’re not willing to sit down and lose our voices. We won’t be fooled into thinking we are powerless. We won’t forget about American history, which proves that those with less power can make a difference.
Minor issue, major trauma
I think what is bothering me most is the fact that border security is such a minor issue, yet it is causing major trauma. I am not oblivious to the fact that sex trafficking and illegal drugs are a problem, but building a wall is not the solution. What about the internet black market, which allows pedophiles to sell trafficked children? What about the legal drugs that are killing Americans?
It’s easy to place blame for social problems on “others” who are different rather than take time to really understand the roots of those problems and do what it takes to heal. Asking Congress to spend $5.7 billion for a border wall is absurd. It’s time to put all our energy into doing something that will really make a difference.
I’m all for taking a stand for what you believe in, but not at the expense of the American people. I don’t know how Trump’s actions will affect the country, but they’ve made me more aware of how much power our president has, and it has encouraged me to become more politically educated and involved.