Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:30 pm
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged President Joe Biden to consider declaring a national climate emergency.
Video of Schumer on The Rachel Maddow Show:
Majority Leader Schumer urges President Biden to declare a national climate emergency. pic.twitter.com/0BUSCgVhIv
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 26, 2021
Transcript as provided to PoliticusUSA by Sen. Schumer:
Schumer: I think it might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency.
Maddow: Hm. Why?
Schumer: Because it relates to what you’re saying. Then he can do many, many things under the emergency powers of the president that wouldn’t have to go through—that he could do without legislation. Now, Trump used this emergency for a stupid wall, which wasn’t an emergency. But if there ever was an emergency, climate is one. So I would suggest that they explore looking at climate as an emergency which would give them more flexibility. After all, it’s a crisis. It’s a crisis.
Maddow: So you’re talking about passing major climate legislation through the reconciliation process.
Schumer: Yes.
Maddow: Pressuring the president or asking the president to—
Schumer: Just asking. Let them look at it. I have a lot of faith that he’ll make a good and right decision.
Trump set the precedent when used emergency powers for his border wall after Congress wouldn’t give him the funding.
The climate issue is different because a case can be made that it is a legitimate national emergency. It is also different from Trump in that the emergency powers would not be used to get around Congress, but as a supplement to congressionally passed legislation.
Republicans are already freaking out over Schumer’s idea, but they are the ones who put themselves in this position by allowing Trump to extend executive power without checking him.
Schumer is showing that he is willing to use some of the same playbook that McConnell and Trump used to advance the Democratic agenda.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
