International Emergency Economic Powers Act: Difference between revisions

Congress enacted the IEEPA in 1977 to clarify and restrict presidential power during times of declared national emergency under the [[Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917]] ("TWEA"). Under TWEA, starting with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1933, presidents had the power to declare emergencies without limiting their scope or duration, without citing the relevant statutes, and without congressional oversight.<ref>H. Rep. No. 95-459, at 7 (1977) "[the TWEA] has become essentially an unlimited grant of authority for the President to exercise, at his discretion, broad powers in both the domestic and international economic arena, without congressional review. These powers may be exercised so long as there is an unterminated declaration of national emergency on the books, whether or not the situation with respect to which the emergency was declared bears any relationship to the situation with respect to which the President is using the authorities"</ref> The [[SCOTUS|Supreme Court]] in ''[[Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer]]'' limited what a president could do in such an emergency, but did not limit the emergency declaration power itself. A 1973 Senate investigation found (in [[Senate Report 93-549]]) that four declared emergencies remained in effect: the 1933 banking crisis with respect to the hoarding of gold,<ref>[[Executive Order 6102]]</ref> a 1950 emergency with respect to the [[Korean War]],<ref>Executive Proclamation 2914, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=13684</ref> a 1970 emergency regarding the [[U.S. postal strike of 1970|postal workers strike]], and a 1971 emergency [[Nixon Shock|in response]] to the government's deteriorating economic and fiscal conditions.<ref>S. Rep. No. 93-549, at 2 (1973), http://www.ncrepublic.org/images/lib/SenateReport93_549.pdf</ref> Congress terminated these emergencies with the [[National Emergencies Act]], and then passed the IEEPA to restore the emergency power in a limited, overseeable form.