Welcome to the power of the bully pulpit.

As we enter what feels like the upteenth week of the Corona virus pandemic, we find ourselves at an interesting crossroads. The intersection between federal power and state power. Now to some this may hold no interest at all. In fact, it may simply seem an exercise in futility. As a political science student this interaction fascinates me. Now before I totally nerd out just a short recap. According to the WHO there are just over two million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 213 countries with just under 150,000 confirmed deaths. Thankfully to some extent we may be starting to see the curve here at home slowly beginning to flatten. And as people want to get the economy back open and running again, we have some trouble in paradise.

According to Business Insider, 42 states currently have stay at home orders in place. Some orders are more restrictive than others. And this has led to tension within certain states. According to NPR, residents of Michigan, one of the hardest hit states, organized Operation Gridlock to protest Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay at home order. This was inflamed a few days later when President Donald Trump tweeted out telling people to liberate the states from the stay at home orders after saying that the reopening of states would be left up to the individual governors as is dictated by the constitution.

I want to make something clear. The power of each state governor is determined by each state’s constitution. Thus the emergency power varies from state to state. The stay at home orders are not a violation of the rights guaranteed by the constitution of the United States. And while there is some wiggle room that might need to be negotiated it is important to remember that there are people’s lives at stake. There are sacrifices that have to be made so that thousands of more people don’t die. And yelling to liberate the states is not in any way helpful and protesting to reopen the economy is not either.