President’s assertion comes as several US states look to co-ordinate reopening economies

Donald Trump claimed he had “total” authority as US president on Monday as he insisted the power to lift coronavirus restrictions lay with him despite the nation’s constitution leaving such rights to state governors.
During a White House news conference that ran for about two hours, the president also asserted that the federal government had “absolute power” as he fielded questions from reporters about when tough measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 could be loosened.
“When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total,” Mr Trump said at the daily White House coronavirus briefing.
Mr Trump’s comments came as several states announced they would band together in regional groupings in order to agree timeframes for lifting the orders that have effectively shuttered the US economy.
The president’s assertion that he could dictate to governors was a dramatic challenge to the US constitution’s system of federalism. Under the 10th amendment of the constitution, all powers not expressly delegated to the federal government are left to the states, and the people.
The powers reserved to the states include the “police power” that gives governors broad authority to regulate the lives of their citizens, particularly during public health emergencies. This power has underpinned the “stay-at-home” orders governors have issued in response to the pandemic.
The president doesn’t have total authority. We have a constitution, we don’t have a king
Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York
Mr Trump’s assertions provoked rebukes even from his own party. Liz Cheney, the Republican representative from Wyoming and the daughter of former US vice-president Dick Cheney, tweeted the text of the 10th amendment and said: “The federal government does not haveabsolute power.”
Andrew Cuomo, New York’s governor, said earlier on Monday that a working group also involving New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware would start discussions on Tuesday, and although there was no specific timetable, the governors “want it ASAP”.
After Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Cuomo responded on the television news channel CNN: “The president doesn’t have total authority. We have a constitution, we don’t have a king.”
Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania’s governor, said earlier on Monday: “Seeing as we had the responsibility for closing the state down, we have the responsibility of opening it back up.”
States on the west coast announced similar regional plans. Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said his state, along with Washington and Oregon, were working on a “regional pact to recovery” that would see restrictions lifted.
Governments across the world are grappling with the question over when to lift strict measures put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The restrictions have hit the global economy, with more than 16m people losing their jobs in recent weeks in the US alone.
Mr Trump has said he hoped the US economy would reopen by May 1 and said on Monday that in the coming days the federal government would release “guidelines and recommendations” about the lifting of restrictions.
The president, reading from prepared remarks, said the guidelines would “give the governors the information they need to start safely opening their states”, an apparent concession that the decision ultimately lay with the states.
At other times during Monday’s briefing, Mr Trump indicated that the only weapon he had to wield in order to enforce his views about when states should open up was his political influence.
“I would like to see that person run for election,” he said when asked what would happen if a governor ignored his demands to open up their state.
Mr Trump later insisted again that even if he left the decision to states, ultimate authority lay with him.
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Mike Pence, the US vice-president, declined to distance himself from Mr Trump’s remarks, pointing to the national emergency declaration the president signed in March.
The emergency powers granted to the president by Congress in a national emergency cover decisions such as military spending, rather than the opening or closing of state economies.
“Well, make no mistake about it, in the long history of this country, the authority of the president of United States during national emergencies is unquestionably plenary,” Mr Pence said.