The whole purpose of this Civics 101 column is to try and help SCOOP USA Newspaper Readers understand more clearly what rights we have as American Citizens. It’s about helping our readers understand some of our basic American laws and rules and to give us a roadmap, if you will, for what responsible adult American citizens are expected to do as law-abiding, positive contributing members of American society.
The mind-boggling thing is that although I look up information and fact-check what I share before it’s published, gathering a lot of information from the United States Constitution, what we see in writing is one thing. On the other hand, sometimes what we witness happening is different than what is written in the Constitution.
One of the big hot button issues of the day at this time in our history is whether or not face masks should be a national mandate for everyone to keep people as safe as possible from the spread of the Coronavirus or any of the new variants that are starting to pop up.
Everyone who pays attention to the news knows that President Joe Biden wants to see America get past this pandemic, and he’s doing all he can to encourage Americans of age to get the Covid-19 vaccination. He’s also strongly encouraging all Americans to wear face masks when we are out in groups of people or whenever we’re around people outside of our immediate circle of people we live with. Further, President Biden, along with experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci and leaders from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), etc. are still telling Americans to be mindful of social distancing and washing their hands with soap and hot water as often as possible. Covid is not through with us yet.
Surely if President Biden could make a national mandate that everyone wears face masks when out in public until further notice, I believe he would do it, but because of the people who are against face masks, the President hasn’t gone quite that far. That kind of mass mask mandate would start a major outcry from the “Trumpsters,” (Donald Trump supporters) and other non-believers in face mask safety.
But to blatantly have some top leaders, such as the Governors of Texas and Florida’s thumb their noses up at the President and scientists and medical doctors and strike down mandates for facemask for schools, in my humble opinion is like signing a death warrant for countless numbers of innocent school children.
So, what do our U.S. Laws says about Governors going against a President on critical issues like this? The answers are like a mixed ball of wax. Here goes:
Governors, all of whom are popularly elected, serve as the chief executive officers of the fifty states and five commonwealths and territories.
As state managers, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. As state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes.
Governors carry out their management and leadership responsibilities and objectives with the support and assistance of department and agency heads, many of whom they are empowered to appoint. A majority of governors have the authority to appoint state court judges as well, in most cases from a list of names submitted by a nominations committee.
Although governors have many roles and responsibilities in common, the scope of gubernatorial power varies from state to state in accordance with state constitutions, legislation, and tradition, and governors often are ranked by political historians and other observers of state politics according to the number and extent of their powers.
The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, included in the original Bill of Rights, states that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. States are independent entities within our system of federalism, not mere subordinate jurisdictions of the national government. In areas reserved to the states, the federal government “cannot coerce the states into taking actions to suit federal policy preference. In particular, states enjoy unchallenged primacy in what constitutional scholars call “police powers”—those involving the health, safety, and well-being of their citizens. In exercising these powers, they may require citizens to do things—such as staying at home or getting tested—that some may resist.
As the federal government responded to the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, governors across the country stepped forward to set policies for their states’ schools, businesses, and medical facilities. Many turned out to be credible and effective communicators, others failed miserably. The day-to-day differences between the leadership of governors have not been lost on the public.
No federal statute gives the President the authority to override state decisions. Nor does he possess this inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution. Nor do any other provisions of the Constitution (such as the interstate commerce clause) confer this power on him or her. If governors choose to disregard his call to reopen their states, their decisions will be final, and then President Biden will have to live with them.
Still, there are powers that only the federal government can exercise. The President can restrict international travel, tighten our borders, and invoke national emergency powers such as the Defense Production Act. Without federal leadership, the states will have a hard time coordinating their policies on the many aspects of the current pandemic that cross state lines.
The federal government is also the only entity that can address medical supply issues. The President can and should lead a national mobilization of businesses and engineers to improvise solutions to the looming shortage of life-saving equipment whenever that happens, like it did last year, during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic.
At the end of the day, while the President of the United States does have a great deal lot of power to make decisions and make some laws, Governors have power too, and there are times when Governors can do exactly as they like, and ignore what a President wants to do.
I gathered much of the information I have shared in today’s Civics 101 column from the National Governors Association website, from www.brookings.edu, and the National Conference of State Legislatures website.
