WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed the "total" authority Monday to decide how and when to reopen the economy after weeks of tough social distancing guidelines aimed at fighting the new coronavirus. But governors from both parties denied it.
Citing the Constitution, governors in both major parties said they have primary responsibility for ensuring public safety in their states and would decide when it's safe to begin a return to normal operations.
Trump would not offer specifics about the source of his asserted power, which he claimed, despite constitutional limitations, was absolute.
"When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total," Trump said at the White House. "The governors know that."
The comments came not long after Democratic leaders in the Northeast and West Coast announced state compacts to coordinate efforts to scale back stay-at-home orders or reopen businesses on their own timetables.
Anxious to put the crisis behind him in an election year, Trump has been discussing with senior aides how to roll back federal social distancing recommendations that expire at the end of the month.
While Trump has issued national recommendations advising people to stay home, it has been governors and local leaders who have instituted mandatory restrictions, including shuttering schools and closing nonessential businesses. Some of those orders carry fines or other penalties, and in some jurisdictions extend into the early summer.
Governors made clear Monday they would not tolerate pressure to act before they deem it safe.
"All of these executive orders are state executive orders, and so therefore it would be up to the state and the governor to undo a lot of that," New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said on CNN.
"The government doesn't get opened up via Twitter. It gets opened up at the state level," said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.
Governors are banding together, with New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island agreeing to coordinate their actions. The governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced a similar pact.
While each state is building its own plan, the three West Coast states have agreed to a framework saying they will work together, put their residents’ health first and let science guide their decisions.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said the efforts would take time.
"The house is still on fire," Murphy said on a conference call with reporters. "We still have to put the fire out, but we do have to begin putting in the pieces of the puzzle that we know we're going to need ... to make sure this doesn't reignite."
Trump, however, insisted it was his decision to make.
"The president of the United States calls the shots," he said, promising to release a paper outlining his legal argument.
Trump can use his bully pulpit to pressure states to act or threaten them with consequences, but the Constitution gives public health and safety responsibilities primarily to state and local officials.
Though Trump abandoned his goal of rolling back social distancing guidelines by Easter, he has been itching to reboot an economy that has dramatically contracted as businesses have shuttered, leaving millions of people out of work and struggling to obtain basic commodities. The closure has undermined Trump's reelection message, which hinged on the economy and stock market, where the Dow Jones has fallen by about 7,000 points this year.
Trump's claim that he could force governors to reopen their states represents a dramatic shift in tone. For weeks Trump has argued that states, not the federal government, should lead the response to the crisis. He has refused to publicly pressure states to enact stay-at-home restrictions, citing his belief in local control of government.