Chase Johnson, research associate in the School of Public Service, recently had opinion pieces published in the Idaho Press Tribune and the Idaho Statesman. The article, “Guest opinion: Forty years ago, Frank Church tried to end emergency government,” published in the press tribune begins:
“The federal government shut down over disagreements about the president’s border wall proposal recalls Idaho’s Sen. Frank Church’s legislation on this issue some 40 years ago, when he co-chaired the Senate Special Committee on the Termination of the National Emergency.
The result was the passage of the 1976 National Emergencies Act (NEA) that defined the scope and authority a president has to declare a national emergency in times of crisis. Most importantly, the NEA states that a national emergency can be addressed by Congress with the passage of a Concurrent Resolution, followed by the power-of-the purse to restrict Executive Branch spending.”