Insulating Contractors from National Emergencies in the Context of National Security

• Pages: 925-947
• Date: 01 July 2024
• Published date: 01 July 2024
• Author: Jacob Nelson
• Subject Matter: Administrative & Public Law

925

INSULATING CONTRACTORS FROM NATIONAL

EMERGENCIES IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIONAL

SECURITY

Jacob Nelson*

ABSTRACT

This Note discusses issues related to the National Emergencies Act, Title

10 of the United States Code, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

through the lens of public procurement. Focusing on President Trump’s

national emergency on the Southern border, this Note will discuss the back-

ground of government exceptionalism in public procurement, the President’s

national security powers through the lens of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v.

Sawyer, especially in the context of a national emergency, and the processes

of the construction of, and later termination of, contracts related to the con-

struction of the wall. This Note will then propose three solutions to protect

government contractors from being terminated for convenience: amend the

National Emergencies Act, Title 10 of the U.S. Code, and the FAR.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction ........................................................................................926

II. A Brief Overview of Government Limitations and

Exceptionalism in Public Procurement ..............................................927

A. The Power of Congressional Appropriations ...............................928

B. The Power to Terminate a Contract for Convenience ................929

III. The President’s National Emergency Powers ...................................930

A. A Case Study of Historical National Emergency Powers:

President Harry Truman, the Korean War, and Strikes

Within Steel Mills Across the United States ................................930

B. Current Federal Statutes and Regulations in National

Emergencies ..................................................................................931

IV. Controversy About the Wall on the Southern Border .......................932

* Jacob Nelson (jnelson75@law.gwu.edu) is a May 2024 graduate of The George Wash-

ington University Law School and a 2021 graduate of West Virginia University, where he

studied International Relations and Political Science. The views and opinions expressed in this

Note are his own.

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926 Public Contract Law Journal • Vol. 53, No. 4 • Summer 2 024

A. President Donald Trump’s National Emergency

on the Southern Border ................................................................933

B. President Biden’s Cancelling of the Contracts .............................936

C. The Aftermath of the Wall, Its Failures, and Waste

of Federal Funds ............................................................................937

V. Applying the Steel Seizure Case to the Wall ........................................938

VI. Congress Should Amend the NEA and Title 10 to Ensure the

Executive Cannot Overstep Constitutional Limitations ...................939

A. Amending the NEA to Clarify Executive Power and Specify

How to Reappropriate Government Contract Funds During

a National Emergency ...................................................................939

1. Defining a National Emergency ............................................. 939

2. Creating a Sunset Provision Within the National

Emergencies Act ......................................................................941

3. Codifying Justice Jackson’s Categorization

of Executive Power ..................................................................942

B. Amending Title 10 of the United States Code to Redefine

and Clarify the Maximum Amount a President May

Reallocate During a National Emergency ...................................943

1. Codifying a Prohibition on the Reallocation of Funds

Congress Previously Prohibited ..............................................943

2. Creating a Sunset Provision within Title 10 ...........................944

C. Amending the FAR to Redefine the Scope of Executive Power

in Reallocating Funds During a National Emergency .................945

1. Outlining the Available Sources of Funding During

a National Emergency .............................................................945

2. Promulgating a Short-Term Contract Requirement

in the FAR ................................................................................945

VII. Conclusion ..........................................................................................947

I. INTRODUCTION

In February 2019, then-President Donald Trump declared a national emer-

gency at America’s southern border.1 President Trump then diverted funds

appropriated for other government contracts to finance the construction of a

barrier between the United States and Mexico.2 As of 2020, the federal gov-

ernment had spent about “$11 billion in taxpayer funds” on this project,3 but

the Biden administration later ended the national emergency and paused the

remaining contracts for the wall,4 leaving contractors to negotiate settlement

1. Proclamation No. 9844, 3 C.F.R. 12 (2020), reprinted in 50 U.S.C. § 1621 (Supp. I 2020).

2. Nick Miroff, Trump’s Border Wall Has Been Breached More Than 3,000 Times by Smug-

glers, CBP Records Show, W. P (Mar. 2, 2022, 2:32 PM), https://www.washingtonpost.com

/national-security/2022/03/02/trump-border-wall-breached [https://perma.cc/95KR-GPG6].

3. Id.

4. Proclamation No. 10142, 3 C.F.R. 27 (2022).

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