White House issues new directive for catastrophic emergency

The Bush administration has released a new directivecalled the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive. The directive was released on 9 May 2007 but has gone largely unnoticed by the media. The directive gives the presdient sweeping power in the event of what the it calls a “Catastrophic Emergency.”

The directive defines a “Catastrophic Emergency” thus: “‘Catastrophic Emergency’ means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.” Critics have already pointed out that many of the definitions in the directive are vague and open to different interpretations.

The directive says that a major task during a catastrophe is to ensure “Enduring Constitutional Government” (ECG), which ti defines thusly:

“Enduring Constitutional Government,” or “ECG,” means a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity with respect to the legislative and judicial branches and with proper respect for the constitutional separation of powers among the branches, to preserve the constitutional framework under which the Nation is governed and the capability of all three branches of government to execute constitutional responsibilities and provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition of leadership, and interoperability and support of the National Essential Functions during a catastrophic emergency

The directive says that “The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.” In a future issue we will discuss the directive and its implications in greater detail.