【經濟學人 雙語】美國總統行政命令的管轄範圍有多大？

What is the scope of a president』s executive orders?

【經濟學人 雙語】美國總統行政命令的管轄範圍有多大？

翻譯：巍峨群山 微信公眾號：Yeetii 個人博客：Yeetii.com

DONALD TRUMP has not wasted time fulfiling campaign promises. In just his first week as America』s 45th president, Mr Trump signed executive orders and memoranda freezing federal hiring, backing out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, defunding 「sanctuary cities」 that protect unauthorised immigrants, undermining Obamacare, restoring the 「global gag rule」 on abortion counselling, restarting the construction of two controversial oil pipelines through Native American lands, building a wall on the nation』s southern border, blocking Syrian refugees and residents of several majority-Muslim countries from immigrating to the United States and slashing regulations on businesses.These moves have provoked fierce criticism from Democrats and studied silence from most Republicans. What are executive orders, and what limits a president』s authority to issue them?

唐納德·特朗普一上任就馬不停蹄的開始兌現他的競選諾言。在他就任美國第45任總統的第一周，他就簽署了多項行政命令和備忘錄，凍結聯邦僱員招聘，退出跨太平洋夥伴協議（TPP），撤銷對庇護非法移民的城市的援助，破壞奧巴馬醫保法案，恢復限制墮胎諮詢的《全球禁言法案》，重啟兩條充滿爭議的穿越原住民土地的石油管線建設，建設南部邊境隔離牆，禁止敘利亞難民和七個穆斯林國家的居民移民美國，大幅撤銷對商業的監管，等等。這些法案激發了民主黨人的猛烈批評，而大部分共和黨人刻意保持沉默。什麼是行政命令，一位總統發布行政命令有什麼限制？

Only Congress can make laws; it is the executive branch』s duty to enforce them. Article II of the constitution specifies that presidents "shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed", and they take an oath to do just that on inauguration day. But as John Locke pointed out in his 「Second Treatise of Government,」 gaps and ambiguities are hallmarks of written law. 「[A] latitude」, Locke wrote, must be 「left to the executive power, to do many things of choice which the laws do not prescribe」. When on January 25th he ordered the erection of a wall on the Mexican border, for example, Mr Trump claimed to be acting under the Immigration and Nationality Act and two other statutes. This move, he wrote, was designed to protect America』s 「safety and territorial integrity」 and to 「ensure that the nation"s immigration laws are faithfully executed」.

只有國會可以立法，而行政機構的職責是實施它們。憲法第二條清楚的規定了總統「應當密切關注相關法案得到了有效的執行」，在就職當天，當選總統要發誓公正的執行法律。但就如約翰·洛克在他的著作《再論政府》中指出的，法律條文與生俱來會帶有漏洞和模糊不清的地方。洛克寫到：「有很多事項法律沒有明文規定，在行政當局處理這些事項時，需要給他們設立一個界限」。作為例子，1月25日，特朗普就聲稱根據《移民和國籍法》以及其它兩個法案，簽署命令在墨西哥邊境建立隔離牆。他寫道，這項命令是為了保護美國的「安全和領土完整，確保國家移民法律得到有效的執行」。

When a president』s executive order crosses into the realm of policymaking or violates the law, lawsuits pop up. Barack Obama』s 2014 decision to shield the parents of American citizens from deportation, for example, was halted by a federal district judge in Texas before it could get off the ground. (The Supreme Court later split 4-4 on whether Mr Obama』s order exceeded his authority, leaving the injunction in place.) Legislative officials sometimes rise in opposition, too. Pre-empting a rumoured order restoring the use of torture as an interrogation technique for suspected terrorists, John McCain, a Republican senator, said that Mr Trump 「can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America」. Other legislators will be keeping an eye on Mr Trump』s use of the presidential pen. In questioning Jeff Sessions, Mr Trump』s pick for attorney general, Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska, noted his disdain for Barack Obama』s use of the privilege. Mr Sasse signalled that he would not countenance an imperial Trump presidency, either: the 44th president "exacerbated...political polarisation", he told Mr Sessions, "by saying he didn"t have legal authority to do things and subsequently doing exactly those things"; it is a "crisis", he continued, "when kids don"t understand the distinction between the legislative and executive branches".

當一位總統的行政命令跨界，進入了立法領域或者違反了法律，法律訴訟就會接連而起。貝拉克·奧巴馬2014年發布的行政命令，禁止將美國人的雙親驅除出境，在落地之前就被德州聯邦地區法官所終止。（關於奧巴馬的這份命令是否超出了總統許可權，最高法院以4:4打平，使這個限制令保留下來。）有時議員們也會提出異議。對於特朗普先發制人簽署的行政命令，允許在審訊中對恐怖分子使用酷刑，共和黨議員約翰·麥凱恩說，特朗普先生「喜歡簽署什麼命令就簽署什麼命令，但是，法律就是法律，我們決不允許在美國境內使用酷刑。」其他議員也密切關注著特朗普的簽字筆。在特朗普任命的司法部長傑夫·賽辛斯的質詢會上，來自內布拉斯加的共和黨議員本·沙瑟表達了他對奧巴馬濫用這種特權的不滿，並旗幟鮮明的表示他不會支持一個特朗普皇朝的出現，他說：「第44任總統嘴巴上說我沒有合法授權去做一些事情，但隨後又用行政命令做了這些事情，這加重了...政治對立」；「如果小朋友從此不明白立法機構和行政機構的區別，這就危險了。」

Few presidents hesitate to put their executive power to quick use. Mr Obama issued fewer orders than most, averaging 35 a year (compared to Franklin Delano Roosevelt』s 307, the peak, and 36 and 46 for George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, respectively). But Mr Obama came out swinging, too, putting his name to 17 orders during the first month of his presidency. Not every signature bears fruit: Barack Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre on January 22nd, 2009, a facility that still housed 41 inmates when he left office. The boldness of Mr Trump』s volley of orders in the opening days of his presidency may be similarly tempered, and the entry ban has already met with judicial resistance. Further court challenges are likely: threatening sanctuary cities with a loss of federal funding may violate the Tenth Amendment and the abortion gag rule runs up against the First.

大部分總統都會迅速的使用他們的行政權力。奧巴馬頒布的行政命名比大部分總統都少，平均每年35項（最多的是羅斯福，307項，布希和柯林頓分別是36項和46項。）但奧巴馬在上任第一個月就頒布了17項行政命令，也是刻不容緩啊。不過並不是每項命令都得到了執行：在2009年1月22日，奧巴馬命令關閉關塔那摩監禁中心，但直到他離任，那裡還關押著41名囚犯。象特朗普這樣萬箭齊發的發布行政命令，想來也會逐漸平息下來，並且他的禁止穆斯林入境命令也遇上了法院的抵抗。接下來法律訴訟不會少：威脅減少對難民庇護城市的聯邦援助違反了《第十修正案》，而《全球禁言法案》違反了《第一修正案》。

版權聲明：

推薦閱讀：