Trump’s Absolute-Power Claim Runs Headlong Into Constitution (1)

President Donald Trump says he has absolute power to end the U.S. coronavirus shutdown. The Constitution says otherwise.

Trump’s assertion Monday runs headlong into the Constitution’s limits on federal power and the explicit preservation of state authority through the 10th Amendment, a provision long championed by his Republican Party. Supreme Court decisions have said that, while the federal government has broad power, health and safety rules are primarily the domain of the states.

Donald Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House on April 13.

Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg

“No responsible constitutional scholar agrees with Trump,” said Neal Katyal, who served as President Barack Obama’s top Supreme Court lawyer, in an email. “Rather, ...