Executive Orders Essay
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Liberty University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
555
Subject
Law
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
4
Uploaded by cgholl76
In April 1952 steel workers threatened to strike, affecting steel mills nationwide. America was in
middle of combat in World War II. If mills closed, materials needed for the war would cease to be produced. President Truman issued an executive order seizing most of the mills in the country
to avert the closure. He insisted the order was necessary to protect national defense. Since President Truman was the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, he felt it was within his powers to execute such an order. The question is whether he acted within his executive authority as provided to him in the Constitution of the United States.
Article II Section I Clause I of the US Constitution reads “The executive power shall be vested in
a President of the United States of America.” 1
As far as broadening the interpretation of what executive power means, the Constitution does not do that. The framers of the Constitution presumed the existing biblical worldview, where the laws of nature and laws of God define and limit executive power. In Isaiah 33:22,
“The Lord is our king” refers to executive power, by stating that God will rule over all men, enforcing the laws of God.
2
In Genesis 3:8
, God walked into the Garden of Eden to find Adam, as He knew he had broken the law of eating from the tree of knowledge.
3
The steel mill owners argued that the President's order was in respect, lawmaking, a legislative function the Constitution has expressly given to Congress, not to the President.
4
The Government's position is that the order was necessary to avert a national catastrophe that would result from a stoppage of steel production. Given the emergent need, the President was acting within the scope of his constitutional powers as the Nation's Chief Executive and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States.
5
A suit was filed in the District 1
T
HE
H
ERITAGE
G
UIDE
TO
THE
C
ONSTITUTION
115 (David F Forte & Matthew Spalding eds., second ed. 2014).
2
Isaiah
33:22 (New Living Translation)
3
Genesis
3:8 (New Living Translation)
4
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co et Al. v. Sawyer (2017)
5
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co et Al. v. Sawyer (2017)
Court by the mill owners, and the court issued a preliminary injunction. When the case entered the Court of Appeals, the ruling was upheld. The court gave the ruling due to their conclusion that the Executive Order was not authorized by the Constitution or laws of the United States; and
it cannot stand.
6
To further support their conclusion, the court cited that there is no statute which expressly or impliedly authorizes the President to take possession of the property. The court also considered the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, where Congress refused to authorize governmental seizures of property as a method of preventing work stoppages and settling labor disputes. The court also stated the authority of the President to issue the order in question can’t be implied from the compilation of his powers under Article II of the Constitution as well as the President's military power as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Finally, the Court included Congress in their conclusion, by stating the lawmaking power is vested in Congress by the Constitution and Congress has exclusive constitutional authority to make the laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers vested by the Constitution "in the Government of the United States, or any Department or Officer thereof."
7
As previously stated, the Framers of the Constitution expected the powers they put into place to follow the laws of nature and God. In fact, the civil powers included in the Constitution are separated in Articles I, II, and III. Article I covers the Legislative power, Article II covers the Executive power, and Article III covers the Judicial power. The Framers did this because they knew the sinful nature of man and wanted to ensure the people were able to always govern themselves. In looking at the Constitutional meaning of executive power, since there was not a clear definition of it in the Constitution, it meant there would be many who would interpret it for years to come. By nature, executive power is the power to enforce the law, not make law. It is 6
Ibid
7
Ibid
also initiative, not responsive, and it is inherent. Biblical examples of executive power come from 1Samuel 15:19
, when Saul violated law when he saved the king from the Amalekites and Genesis 3:8, when God sought out Adam when he knew he sinned.
8
As it is applied in American
government, permissible executive power is the power to lead as Commander in Chief, the power to arrest, and the power to prosecute. A law must be place for executive power to enforce; one can’t create a law in order to enforce it. In the 13
th
century, Bracton said “…there is no king where will, not law, wields dominion.” What he meant was the executive power must be used lawfully, or it is not executive power.
9
As America aged, the debate over what the Framers meant
when it came to executive power reached the courts. In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled that Negro
slavery was protected by the Constitution from the efforts of Congress to prevent its spread. Abraham Lincoln disagreed with the Supreme Court making an opinion and stated “if the Supreme Court can make decisions of the people that the government is bound to then the people
will have stopped governing themselves.”
10
Eventually, the President and Congress began to think the court had the right to determine the constitutional meaning of their powers. Author Herbert Titus stated in his book America’s Heritage: Constitutional Liberty, this should not be the case, as each branch of government has the duty to exercise an independent interpretation of the Constitution.
11
In conclusion, based on the Biblical worldview of executive power, President Truman did not have the authority to seize the steel mills as a matter of order, as it was outside of the scope of his
authority as given in the Constitution. Additionally, it was not a matter of the court to determine what was Constitutional and what was not. Congress is tasked to govern the people, by the 8
1 Samuel 15:19 and
Genesis
3:8 (New Living Translation)
9
AMERICA’S HERITAGE: CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY 43 (Herbert W. Titus and Gerald R. Thompson Sec. Ed. 2006).
10
Ibid. 46
11
Ibid. 46
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
people. It is their job to interpret and carry out the powers, as intended by the Constitution. Lincoln was an intelligent leader when he spoke out against the Court’s intervention in the governmental process, as it is a intrusion of powers that are meant to remain separate.