President Trump’s Real Emergency

OPINION — Prior to President Trump, only two Presidents have initiated use of the special emergency authority [U.S. Code Title 10, Section 2808] to transfer un-obligated military construction money to new projects without Congressional approval.

The original legislation, passed in 1981, at the height of the Cold War, was titled “Construction authority in the event of a declaration of war or national emergency,” when the country was fearful of a devastating nuclear “first strike” from the Soviet Union.