State of Emergency Declared in the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump has declared a national state of emergency to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement was made by the American leader during a specially convened press conference at the White House on Friday.

“I am officially declaring a national emergency today. This gives us access to 50 billion dollars to support state and local authorities to combat this disease,” Trump stated.

The emergency declaration will lift bureaucratic obstacles to allocate funds from the federal budget to local and state governments. The power to declare a state of emergency in the United States rests with the president. Until 1976, the head of state could declare an emergency for any duration and for any reason he deemed a threat to national security. The introduction of this regime was later regulated by the National Emergencies Act (1976).