Reply #510: 9/17 Pres. Failed to Comply w/ Req'ts for Activating Emergency Powers

[snot]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4801358
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/16/131238/384
Bush has no legal authority to cut wages in Katrina recovery.
by Windowdog

Fri Sep 16th, 2005 at 10:12:38 PDT (edited by snot for brevity)

As many people have pointed out one of the first thing Bush did in the wake of Katrina was waive the Davis Bacon Wage supports that require relief workers be paid a wage in keeping with the local labor market. This cut the minimum wage for all relief related workers drastically.

Turns out Bush may very well have no legal authority to waive that requirement. His actions are based on a law that was nullified in 1976, almost 30 years ago!

But this emergency statute was one of numerous authorities that
were rendered dormant by the National Emergencies Act of 1976, and
that can only be activated by certain procedural formalities that
were absent in this case.

In particular, the President must formally declare a national
emergency under the National Emergencies Act, and he must specify
which standby legal authorities he proposes to activate so as to
permit congressional restraint of emergency powers.

Strangely, however, President Bush proceeded as if the National
Emergencies Act did not exist.

The September 8 presidential declaration was "an anomaly,"
according to a new Congressional Research Service assessment, and
it did not follow "the historical pattern of declaring a national
emergency to activate the suspension authority."

"The propriety of the President's action in this case may be
ultimately determined in the courts," the CRS report stated
delicately.

See "National Emergency Powers," Congressional Research Service,
updated September 15, 2005 (esp. pp. 18-19):"

Update <2005-9-16 15:18:58 by Windowdog>:: To address some points made below let me just restate this. Bush could have gotten the authority to do this rubber stamped in less than a day had he chosen to do so. However he couldn't even be bothered with that. This is a brazen act of an imperial presidency to curtail the legal rights of the population without any authority to do so.

In 1976 a law was passed that said the President had to list the powers he intended to use, thus exposing his intentions to congressional review, before he activated the powers made dormant under the act. His proclamation is meaningless legally since he had no authority to issue it at that time. Any attempts to enforce that proclamation are illegal until the situation is rectified.