Trump’s Emergency Declaration Threatens Philanthropy’s Core Values (Opinion)

In November, I joined with 40 other foundation leaders to call on our colleagues across philanthropy to respond to unprecedented threats facing our democracy — threats to the independence of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and to the rule of law generally.

Less than three months later, our country is facing a new constitutional crisis that demands our leadership and resolve. We must not accept President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to secure funding to build a wall on our Southern border. He is blatantly taking a page straight out of the authoritarian playbook and his action must not stand.

The President’s declaration demonstrates his disregard for our Constitution and his willingness to circumvent our system of checks and balances. Declaring an emergency when none exists sets a dangerous precedent for the rule of law. It is the quintessential example of the executive branch appropriating power to itself. Just as we cannot allow any president to weaken the independence of our system of justice, we must also not allow this president to unilaterally achieve his policy goals at the expense of the Constitution’s promise of parity between the co-equal branches of our government.

Indeed, the Framers of our Constitution established Congress as the first branch of government to prevent the development of an imperial presidency. Even under the best circumstances, the separation of powers (and the need for compromise that comes with it) can be deeply frustrating for leaders from both parties. Deep partisan divisions and gridlock further increases the incentive for presidents of both parties to take the policy-making process into their own hands and avoid the intransigence of our legislative branch. But President Trump’s emergency declaration has crossed a line that cannot be ignored, and it must be met with a vocal, muscular response.

Once again, this dire political moment calls on philanthropic leaders to make the uncomfortable choice of opposing an action taken by the President of the United States. The President’s actions do not represent politics as usual and should not be treated as such. They are decidedly abnormal and threaten the core values for which philanthropy must stand. Ironically, the real emergency facing our democracy is our president’s lack of respect for our Constitution.

A Role for All Grant Makers

As philanthropic leaders, we often prefer to stay in our respective lanes and focus on long-term strategic approaches to our grant making. The unique nature of this moment – the real emergency – demands that foundations break out of our silos and take action in support of our democracy by funding the advocates and litigators working to curb executive branch abuses. We must also use our positions as civil society leaders to call on others to join us in answering this threat.

Recent research by the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group, highlights just how real the danger of authoritarianism is in our country. While the vast majority of Americans believe in democracy, about one-third of Trump supporters say that a political system with a strong leader who doesn’t have to worry about Congress or elections would be a good thing. In-depth interviews with authoritarian-minded voters found a surprising willingness—not only from Trump supporters, but also from some Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans—to weaken the legislative and judicial branches to make way for a stronger executive.

The declaration of a state of emergency not only damages the institutions of our democracy – it also risks undermining our democratic culture by jeopardizing the system’s legitimacy. As philanthropists, we must ask ourselves: what can we do to reaffirm a commitment to our republic?

We must start by ensuring that the experts, advocates, and litigators working to respond to this emergency declaration have the resources they need. Democracy Fund has committed nearly $15 million over the past two years to groups to combat abuses of power by the executive branch. Those organizations are taking extraordinary steps to respond to this moment – for example:

• The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Protect Democracy, and the Niskanen Center draw on expert litigators, savvy litigation strategy, and constitutional scholarship to use the power of the courts to challenge the President’s national emergency declaration.
• The National Immigration Law Center, the leading advocate for immigrants and their families, has already successfully challenged the White House on the Muslim ban, the rescinding of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy and Temporary Protected Status for Honduran refugees, and more.
• The Four Freedoms Fund works to accelerate and escalate the growing independent power of the pro-immigrant movement, by building the capacity of grassroots immigrant rights organizations to engage more adeptly in policy advocacy, promoting fair elections and accountability, and changing the politics on immigration.
• The Brennan Center for Justice is at the forefront of research and education about the breadth of the president’s emergency powers and the dangers they pose, and has compiled an exhaustive list of the extremely broad additional powers a president acquires, legally, after declaring a state of emergency.
• Stand Up Republic and Republicans for the Rule of Law are rallying conservatives to oppose the president’s declaration.

I hope my peers throughout philanthropy will seize this moment, listen to the experts on the ground, and ask what resources they need to constrain this abuse of executive power. Further, I hope they will call on their grantees, their peer community leaders, and their other constituents to call this fake declaration what it is: un-American.

In a healthy democracy, our leaders bear an uncommon burden to act with integrity. Together let us stand together to provide moral clarity in this shameful moment.

Joe Goldman is president of the Democracy Fund.