GOP Sen. Schmitt: We Need ‘Structural Reform’ of Presidential Emergency Powers, Left’s ‘Playbook Was Set with COVID’

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) said that there needs to be “structural reform” of presidential emergency powers even with the Supreme Court striking down President Joe Biden’s student loan plan because he’s sure the Biden administration will try to enact legislation unilaterally and “the playbook was set with COVID, declare an emergency, aggregate power and control. They did it with COVID. They want to do it now with climate issues.”

Schmitt said, “I also think that it’s important what the Supreme Court did today, on top of some other decisions they made, whether it’s the EPA case last year with the major questions doctrine, what you’re seeing now, thankfully, is a narrowing of what these unilateral executive actions…the impact they can have or the broader administrative state. Our founders created a country [where] you spread out authority, you had separation of powers. These kinds of decisions are supposed to be decided with the people’s branch, the Article I branch, Congress, because, guess what? You can send them there, you can send them home, and you can send them back. These unelected bureaucrats are exercising immense authority and nobody ever voted for them. And so, you’ve got that piece of it, then you’ve got this unilateral executive action. Look, Tammy, I think it’s important to remember now, the playbook was set with COVID, declare an emergency, aggregate power and control. They did it with COVID. They want to do it now with climate issues. They did it with student loans. So, the playbook is set. We’ve got to be vigilant here, push back at every turn, because I think these are fundamental issues for our republic.”

Guest host Tammy Bruce then said, “[O]ne thing we really need to do, Sen. Schmitt, is to have the Senate, to have Congress change the degree to which a president can maintain an emergency status for the country. They didn’t want to let go of the COVID emergency because of what it let them do. Isn’t that exactly the kind of thing that needs to change through Congress?”

Schmitt responded, “Absolutely, there needs to be structural reform for this. … But also, look, if these are such good ideas, Congress should have to vote on it. If you want to ban gas stoves, put that before the Article I branch, Congress, and let the chips fall where they may.”

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