Can the President Overturn States' Quarantine Orders?

In the thick of the COVID-19 national health emergency, President Trump has tweeted and stated on several occasions that he will seek to overrule states' governors' decisions to issue lockdowns and close non-essential businesses. What powers does the federal government have to override state mandates? Can the president require governors to rescind shelter-in-place orders? What about Congress through their power to regulate interstate commerce? Professor Glenn Cohen explains the constitutional basis of the federal and state governments powers in a public health emergency.

 

  Professor Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School is one of the world's leading experts on the intersection of bioethics and the law, as well as health law. He is the faculty director of Harvard Law's Petrie-Flom Center.