In Washington today, the word “emergency” is a magic key; it unlocks powers Congress never granted, suspends the discipline of regular order and decorates bloated bills with provisions too dubious to pass on their own. What was once meant to be a narrow exception for genuine crises has become a routine pretext for government overreach — a means of inflating executive power and corroding the nation’s fiscal credibility.

Start with the most brazen claim, and one now being scrutinized by the Supreme Court: that a president may impose sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act merely by declaring that a half-century of trade deficits constitutes an emergency.

Tariffs are taxes paid by Americans, and the Constitution assigns the power to tax to Congress. Yet the Trump administration argues that the president’s tariff power is beyond reproach because only he is the designator of emergencies.

The Washington Post’s George Will summarized the stakes crisply: a statute being read as a roving license to restructure the economy and give the president “unreviewable power to impose taxes … of whatever amount, and for as long as he chooses.” Amicus briefs from across the political spectrum press the simple point that the IEEPA doesn’t authorize this, and an emergency cannot be a long-running condition that has coincided with rising American prosperity.

Congress, for its part, has effectively built a parallel budget out of the emergency label. Whenever caps on discretionary spending or pay-as-you-go requirements threaten to bite, the label becomes something more. Use it and the spending simply doesn’t count against agreed-upon limits or require offsets.

The best recent accounting by the Cato Institute’s Dominik Lett puts the emergency-spending price tag at about $12.5 trillion (adjusted for inflation) since 1991. Count the roughly $2.5 trillion more in interest on the related debt and the number is around $15 trillion altogether.

Over the last decade, roughly one in every 10 dollars of budget authority has worn an emergency tag. That’s not a safety valve; it’s a standing workaround that has already swallowed even the modest savings promised by the Fiscal Responsibility Act two years ago.

What makes this practice so easy? It’s largely self-policed.

On paper, the Office of Management and Budget has a five-part test for emergency spending: It should be necessary, sudden, urgent, unforeseen and not permanent. Congress rarely forces itself to demonstrate, item by item, that all five prongs are met. There’s no neutral referee. Once “designated as an emergency” appears in the bill and the president concurs, the amounts are exempt from caps and PAYGO scorecards.

And because this budget label is separate from more specific “national emergency” declarations under statutes like the Stafford Act or the National Emergencies Act, it quietly turns into a vehicle for funding routine projects. It’s such a procedural magic word that fiscal guardrails all but disappear.

Finally, even when a real crisis exists, so too does opportunism. Emergency bills move fast, face weak scrutiny and become irresistible means for unrelated projects or those that Congress would never approve otherwise. This dynamic marred the 2012-13 Hurricane Sandy package and has recurred in other disaster bills, not because relief is illegitimate but because speed plus political cover invites provisions that would die in regular order.

The pandemic supercharged the pattern. Much of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan had little to do with COVID-19. Only a small share went to direct health measures. Hundreds of billions funded unrelated legislative wishes, such as $350 billion for state and local governments whose revenues had already recovered, and large education and social welfare expansions designed to last well beyond the pandemic.

The stakes of the abuse of emergency labelling are no longer abstract. Interest costs on debt that results from the extra spending are crowding out core functions of government. Americans are hammered with “emergency” tariff costs. The next true crisis will arrive with less room to maneuver if we keep burning credibility on manufactured ones.

A republic that treats emergencies as a governing philosophy is a republic that lives without its safeguards. We must put the word back in its place: as one describing something rare, reviewable, temporary and paid for.

Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

FULLERTON — Making the playoffs this season was remarkable enough for the Fullerton football team.

But the resurgent Indians, who were winless last season, aren’t done yet after defeating La Quinta of La Quinta, 38-21, in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 8 playoffs Thursday at Fullerton High School.

The Indians (9-2) advance to the second round and will take on the winner of Friday’s first-round game between La Mirada and Beckman.

“Man, it’s been so cool to watch these young men because they went through so much last year,” first-year Indians head coach Pete Karavedas said. “And to watch them come through and have these moments where they’re down and fight through it … I mean, that’s what we love about high school football. That it is such a great metaphor for life. So, I’m just so proud of them.”

Fullerton used three running backs almost equally, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and three through the air.

Many players contributed to the victory, and one of the standouts was Evan Tellez-Soria, who had touchdown runs of 37 and 19 yards from the running back position, along with an interception and fumble recovery on defense as a linebacker.

Tellez-Soria’s 37-yard score came on the first drive of the game, giving Fullerton a 7-0 lead.

The Blackhawks (7-4) came back with two touchdowns, the second coming as the result of a Fullerton turnover.

Then, with La Quinta leading 14-7, the Indians scored three consecutive touchdowns in just under two minutes late in the second quarter.

The first came on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Sergio Andrade to Hudson Haiduc, leaving one minute, 48 seconds until halftime.

Fullerton held La Quinta to three and out on the ensuing drive and took possession on the Fullerton 47.

Andrade then connected with Nathan Vejar for a 20-yard score, leaving 40 seconds until halftime.

Tellez-Soria recovered a fumble at La Quinta 27-yard line with 29 seconds left.

Fullerton converted the takeaway into a touchdown, which came on a perfectly executed halfback option.

Andrade pitched the ball to Caden Wise, who then threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Zach Bird, giving the Indians a 25-14 halftime lead.

La Quinta opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown drive, making the score 25-21.

The Indians responded with a 73-yard drive, capped by Tellez-Soria’s 19-yard touchdown run to build the lead back up to two scores.

The Blackhawks were in the red zone early in the fourth quarter when Tellez-Soria took the scoring opportunity away with an interception.

Fullerton converted that takeaway into a six-minute scoring drive, with Cyrus Avilas scoring on a 1-yard run.

“The seniors had a horrible year last year and I just wanted to bounce back for them and make it as far as we can because I know it’s their last year and they have to enjoy this,” Tellez-Soria said.

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NEWPORT COAST — Mater Dei’s boys water polo team continued to navigate a fresh course in the CIF-SS playoffs with focus and determination.

The Monarchs sprinted to a four-goal lead in the first quarter at Sage Hill and never let the Lightning draw closer than two goals en route to an 11-8 victory in the Division 1 quarterfinals on Thursday.

In its first appearance in the section’s No. 2-ranked playoff division since 2009, third-seeded Mater Dei (15-13) will play at No. 2 Harvard-Westlake (12-15) in the semifinals Wednesday.

Harvard-Westlake is competing in the section’s No. 2 playoff division for the first time since 1991.

Defender Noah Jurgensen showed his urgency and versatility by scoring four of his five goals in the first half to set the tone for Mater Dei.

Junior Ace Chen added all three of his goals in the first period as the Monarchs led 8-4 at halftime.

“We’re bringing just as much effort as we would have brought if we were in the Open (Division),” Chen said. “Even though we’re in D1, none us our down about it. We’re all still excited to go try to win that Division 1 championship.”

First-year Mater Dei coach Erik Zimmerman agreed, “We just continue to grind and work hard.”

Mater Dei moved closer to its eighth section title by defeating upstart Sage Hill (21-6).

The Lightning beat Yucaipa 14-12 in the first round for their first Division 1 victory in program history.

The Monarchs held high-scoring left-hander Luke Weichert to one goal and limited the Lightning to a 2 for 9 effort on the power play.

Weichert and Jurgensen are both seniors committed to UC Irvine.

“He fought hard. They fought hard together. Our team fought harder,” Jurgensen said of Weichert, who had six goals against Yucaipa. “He’s a great player. … We pressed him as much as we could and avoided foul trouble. We put a hand up whenever he had the ball.”

Junior goalie Morgan Crichton helped Mater Dei seal the victory in the second half by recording six of his nine saves.

Sophomores Bobby Ray and Aaden Hoang combined for five goals for Sage Hill. Sophomore goalie Noah Rothbard had nine saves.

“It’s huge,” Sage Hill coach Pavle Filipovic said of reaching the Division 1 quarterfinals. “I’m very proud of the team. We’ve been trying to build slowly.”

In the other semifinal, No. 1 Loyola will play host to No. 4 Dos Pueblos on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES — Despite missing four players, including their two biggest stars, the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers had sharp enough claws to maul the Kings, 5-2, on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.

The Kings lost for the third time in four games overall and slipped to 1-4-2 at home this season after being the NHL’s best home team last season. The Panthers continued their step-forward, step-back quest for a three-peat after losing to the Ducks, 7-3, on Tuesday night. Both teams dangled precariously above a .500 points percentage. It was Florida’s first win in Los Angeles since March of 2019.

The Kings have scored two or fewer goals six times and lost five of those games, and they have surrendered three or more goals in 11 of 15 outings, losing in nine such instances.

“You can’t panic. We’d like to score more, I’d like to score more, but it’s just not happening right now,” winger Trevor Moore said. “We like what we see in a lot of areas in our game, we don’t want to get away from those.”

An˛e Kopitar and Corey Perry each scored for the Kings. Anton Forsberg stopped a meager 19 of 24 shots.

With no Matthew Tkachuk or Aleksander Barkov so far this season, Florida got two goals from Brad Marchand Thursday to bring his total to nine. Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell also deposited the puck. Niko Mikkola chipped in two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.

The final frame saw the Kings create opportunities only to see them evaporate summarily.

“We came out with lots of energy in the third period, we had three or four good looks around Bobrovsky, we had a chance to push and then we shot ourselves in the foot, I guess you’d call it, it’s one of the phrases, there’s a few different ones,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said.

Down a goal, they went to the power play, but after Kopitar was foiled on a backdoor chance, a Kevin Fiala giveaway led to a short-handed breakaway goal for Lundell with 11:19 to play. With 7:24 left, Mikkola’s well-timed pinch at the offensive blue line created an Adrian Kempe turnover, leaving Marchand open for a snipe from the inner part of the right circle that threw the game into the refrigerator.

“A few mistakes ended up in the net, that’s the way it goes,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “They’re a great team for a reason, they don’t need much to capitalize.”

The Panthers are now 103-6-7 when leading after two periods during the Paul Maurice era, which has seen them win three Eastern Conference crowns and two Stanley Cup titles.

The Kings trailed 3-2 at the second intermission. Their penalty kill improved to 20 for its past 22, with two short-handed goals offsetting what little they allowed in that span, but gave up an even-strength goal.

At 11:45, after Perry nearly set up Alex Turcotte at the other end, the Panthers pulled back in front off a counterattack. Carter Verhaeghe lent speed to the rush and found Reinhart, who turned 30 on Thursday, in the slot for a backhand tally shortly afterward.

The Kings had fallen down by a goal, tilted the ice in their favor to take a lead and then committed a blunder to leave the match tied at 2-all through 20 minutes.

With 2:30 left in the frame, Forsberg showed limited situational awareness as he casually handled the puck behind the net before being stripped clean by Marchand. The former Boston Bruins captain scored with total ease. Aaron Ekblad’s assist meant that all three key re-signings this summer for Florida recorded a point Thursday since Marchand and Bennett each had a goal.

“He’s been outstanding for us all season, he’s the one who drives us,” Bobrovsky said of Marchand. “He’s a leader in the locker room and a leader on the ice.”

The Kings had taken their first lead off Perry’s goal 6:30 earlier. Anderson’s stretch pass eluded a diving Ekblad, finding Perry at the blue line. He dashed in and roofed the puck far side for his sixth of the season. That placed him in a three-way tie for the team lead, despite Perry’s having played six fewer games than either Kempe or Fiala.

“He’s played enough games now, he’s been around and he knows what it takes,” Anderson said of Perry. “He’s a guy everyone will look to, even if he’s a little quieter. If you watch him play it’s pretty evident he’s making a mark.”

Perry, who fought A.J. Greer in the waning moments Thursday, drew the penalty that led to the Kings’ first goal, 9:23 into the contest. They had gone 1 for their previous 22 on the power play and gotten just two goals from their centers in a combined 52 games played, until Kopitar scored his first of the season. He deflected Kempe’s shot past Bobrovsky to finally break the seal for 2025-26, his 20th and final NHL season.

Just over two minutes into the match, the Panthers took advantage of some defensive discombobulation. A turnover by Phil Danault inside the offensive blue line was compounded by multiple pinches in the neutral zone, including by both defensemen, Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci. That ultimately left Andrei Kuzmenko alone at the net front, where Bennett easily out-battled him for a rebound that he popped past Forsberg.

The natives were restless on Figueroa on Thursday, with the loudest boos of the campaign to date and the first “fire Hiller” chants breaking out as the final horn loomed.

“I didn’t hear it, no, but, it happens, you know, it’s sports,” Moore said.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Several members of the Dodgers were the Kings’ guests at the game, receiving multiple loud ovations after winning their second straight World Series title last weekend.

PHOENIX — The Clippers were hoping to spend the early weeks of the season building chemistry and sorting through their rotation combinations with a revamped roster.

That’s been hard to do with some of their core players missing games, and overlapping absences are making wins hard to come by too.

Jalen Green scored 29 points in his Phoenix debut, Devin Booker added 24 points and the Suns beat a Clippers team that was playing without stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, 115-102, on Thursday night.

Ivica Zubac had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Clippers, who held a 51-48 halftime lead before losing their third straight game. Cam Christie scored 17 off the bench, John Collins had 13 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12.

The Clippers said Harden (23.3 points per game) missed the game for personal reasons, while Leonard (24.3 ppg) was sidelined with a right ankle sprain.

Green, a guard who missed the Suns’ first eight games with a right hamstring strain, played 23 minutes and shot 10 for 20 from the field, including 6 for 13 from 3-point range on a night when the Suns made 19 from behind the arc, one short of their season high.

Green was acquired from Houston in the offseason in the seven-team trade that sent Kevin Durant from Phoenix to the Rockets.

Grayson Allen, playing through an illness, scored 18 points, Mark Williams had 13 points and nine rebounds and Royce O’Neale scored 17, 11 in the third quarter when Phoenix outscored the Clippers 40-23 to take a 91-74 lead. The Suns had a 33-11 run in the third to open a 20-point lead. O’Neale made three 3-pointers during that stretch, and Booker sank two of his three 3-pointers.

The Suns took their biggest lead at 104-79 on an Allen 3-pointer with 7:53 remaining. The Clippers got within 11 with two minutes left but never pulled closer.

Bradley Beal made his first appearance in Phoenix since that ill-fitting marriage ended in divorce after last season, when the Suns waived him and ate the final two years and $110 million of his contract. Beal signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Clippers in the offseason, but his return to the desert did not go well.

The veteran guard, who was frequently sidelined by injuries during his two seasons with the Suns, had five points on 2-for-14 shooting from the field in 20 minutes. He was booed during introductions and every time he touched the ball during the game.

UP NEXT

The teams meet again Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Intuit Dome.