Policy Backgrounders

National Emergencies: Presidential Authority and Trends in Usage

June 16, 2025

Declaration of a national emergency grants the President temporary authority of enhanced executive powers on the rationale that the Congressional lawmaking process is too lengthy during times of crisis. With eight national emergencies declared already during his second term, the President is outpacing previous Administrations.

• The International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) gives the President authority to take certain steps to restrict commerce upon the declaration of a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act of 1976 (NEA).
• In recent decades, sanctions after declaration of a national emergency involving IEEPA have expanded in scope, from targeting state actors to now including targeting groups, such as political parties and terrorist organizations, and individuals, such as supporters of terrorism and suspected drug traffickers.
• According to data from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), as of January 2024, Presidents have issued approximately 4.5 Executive Orders citing IEEPA and declared 1.5 new national emergencies citing IEEPA each year since 1990. In the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term, his Administration declared eight states of emergency.
• President Trump’s use of IEEPA on trade is currently being contested in court on the question of whether  the President can use this authority to “regulate” commerce simply by imposing tariffs. Challenging a President’s ability to declare a state of emergency is not new, the Supreme Court heard several cases in this area under President Biden.

The National Emergencies Act

The National Emergencies Act of 1976 (NEA) terminated existing national emergencies and established procedures for how the Federal government responds to declared national emergencies. It limited the scope and duration of states of national emergency and formalized Congress’ power to provide certain checks and balances on the emergency powers of the President. The NEA provides Congress with expedited procedures for consideration of a joint resolution terminating a national emergency, and it establishes a six-month congressional review period for ongoing national emergencies with the aim of granting Congress greater control over the use of emergency powers. Under Section 202(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. §1622(c)), a joint resolution to terminate a national emergency can be introduced in either chamber at any time and referred to the appropriate committee.

The Act’s Origin

Democratic Senator Frank Church, a critic of the Vietnam War, was furious when in 1970 President Nixon expanded the war into Cambodia without Congressional approval. Church drafted an amendment to prevent congressionally appropriated funds from being used for American war efforts in Cambodia. In response, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird warned that the Pentagon would fund ground operations using the emergency provisions of the Feed and Forage Act, a Civil War-era law that granted the U.S. Cavalry the authority to purchase feed for its horses if appropriated money ran out while Congress was not in session. (Concerns over US military action in Cambodia and Congress’ powers to declare war also led to enactment of the War Powers Resolution in 1973, overriding President Nixon’s veto.)

In 1973, the Senate tasked a temporary committee with investigating “outdated” emergency powers Congress granted to Presidents in the previous half century. The Special Committee on the Termination of the National Emergency, was co-chaired by Church and Senator Charles Mathias (R-MD). The Committee identified a list of 470 powers that Congress had granted to Presidents in the previous half century during times of national crisis, and while those crises had ended, Congress had not officially revoked those powers. Further, the legislative branch had rarely limited Presidents’ emergency powers. The findings of the Committee eventually led to passage of the National Emergencies Act in 1976, which President Ford signed.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)

The International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) gives the President authority to take certain steps to restrict commerce upon the declaration of a national emergency under the NEA. It grants the President broad authorities to impose economic sanctions and regulate economic transactions during national emergencies that involve an “unusual and extraordinary” threats to national security, foreign policy, or the economy. IEEPA also permits the President to “regulate” or “prohibit” imports, typically used to impose sanctions or to ban most or all transactions with a country, as when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 or when Russia launched its second invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Presidential Use of National Emergencies

As of June 2025, Presidents have declared 90 emergencies under the NEA, with IEEPA as the most frequently cited emergency authority. According to combined data from tracking by both the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Brennan Center, there are currently 52 ongoing national emergencies, all but three involving IEEPA.

Trends in Usage

According to data from CRS, as of January 2024, Presidents have issued approximately 4.5 Executive Orders citing IEEPA and declared 1.5 new national emergencies citing IEEPA each year since 1990. Between 1977 and January 2024, national emergencies involving IEEPA last on average nearly nine years, with the majority targeting hostile states. However, new trends have emerged since 1990. In more recent decades, Presidents have increasingly declared non-geographically specific emergencies in response to concerns such as weapons proliferation, global terrorism, and malicious cyber activity. Rather than targeting foreign governments, IEEPA has increasingly been used to target groups, such as political parties, corporations, or terrorist organizations, and individuals, such as supporters of terrorism, suspected narcotics traffickers, and associates of the International Criminal Court.

Another significant trend is the expansion of rationale for declaring a state of emergency. Early rationales citing IEEPA being short and referencing a geographic area, such as “the situation in Iran,” in EO 12170 following the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979, the first declared national emergency since enactment of the NEA. Stated rationales now commonly include response to human and civil rights abuses, slavery, and denial of religious freedom, among others, with the majority of those referencing human rights declared in the last two decades.

Current Usage

In the first 100 days of the President’s second term, the Administration declared eight states of emergency, more than any other modern President has in the same period. These emergencies concern issues such as the southern border,  energy and critical minerals, drug cartels and terrorist organizations,  and the International Criminal Court, among others.

Most notable is the President’s use of IEEPA regarding trade. He used this authority under IEEPA in February to declare a national emergency with respect to fentanyl and used this authority to impose tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada (in the case of Canada, regulating the tariffs by imposing a lower tariff on Canadian energy imports). Later, on April 2, President Trump declared a national emergency with respect to large US trade deficits in goods and imposed the “Liberation Day” tariffs, both a universal 10% tariff on all imports to the US with additional duties on certain trading partners (later suspended on April 9 for 90 days; please see CED’s Policy Backgrounders on the tariff rulings for further information). 

Contested use of Emergency Authority Under Recent Administrations

Challenges to a President’s ability to declare a state of emergency have also increased in recent years. In 2023, the Supreme Court heard Biden v. Nebraska, which challenged the Biden Administration’s authority in issuing student debt cancellation under the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. That same year, the Court also heard Arizona v. Mayorkas, in which a group of states challenged the Biden Administration’s move to end the use of Title 42 of the Public Health Services Act, which was invoked using emergency powers to limit entry into the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his first term, the President issued a national emergency concerning the southern border, contested by several states and numerous organizations, terminated by President Biden, and later reinstated in the President’s second term.

Conclusion

With eight national emergencies declared already during his second term and 13 during his first, President Trump is outpacing previous administrations. President Biden declared 11 national emergencies during his four years, and President Obama declared 12 during his eight years, with President Bush declaring 14 during his eight. While in a complex geopolitical environment, the use of national emergencies to permit the Executive Branch to act quickly (for instance, to begin sanctions programs against a country), the increasing use of national emergencies and their practical application is likely to be further tested in the courts.