A much publicized at the time, NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 posted on the White House website on May 9th, 2007, is now even more relevant. The law gives the president unprecedented powers which many have interpreted to mean command of all three branches:

• The Progressive
• Wikipedia
• NPR

In summary the directive states that following a "Catastrophic Emergency", which is defined as:

"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;"

An "Enduring Constitutional Governement" will enact comprising of:

"a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government"

As the current constitutional government stipulates that all branches are created equal, this bill would imply that all the branches are to be situated under the guidance of the President. I would think that if anything could be intrepreted as a Catastrophic Emergency or a lead in to a catastrophic emergency, this could be it.

 

• Directive/NSPD
• 51
• economy