SNEK POLICY
Emergency Powers Must Expire
Emergencies can require fast government action. They should not quietly create permanent government power.
Automatic expiration
Emergency declarations and extraordinary authorities should expire after a defined period unless the legislature affirmatively extends them in a public vote.
Emergency spending, restrictions, and extraordinary enforcement powers should be disclosed and reviewed.
Temporary should mean temporary
Government should identify what emergency condition justifies the authority and what conditions will end it. Extraordinary powers should not survive merely because nobody remembered to cancel them.
FULL POLICY DETAILS
The longer version
Why SNEK thinks this
Emergency power exists because some situations require immediate action. That does not justify letting temporary power quietly become normal government. SNEK’s rule is that the longer extraordinary authority continues, the more people in government must publicly own the decision.
How it would work
Emergency powers should expire automatically after 30 days unless the legislature affirmatively renews them. Continued renewals should require public recorded votes rather than passive extensions. Emergency spending, restrictions, contracts, and major orders should remain visible enough for courts, legislators, journalists, and the public to understand what government is doing.
Where SNEK leaves room
True immediate emergencies may require the executive to act before a legislature can physically convene. SNEK accepts that short window. What it rejects is the idea that the existence of an emergency lets one person or agency keep extraordinary powers indefinitely without repeated legislative approval.
Related SNEK policies
Congress Must Own Major Policy Decisions • Executive Orders Cannot Replace Laws