Whispers abound, as do headlines: Obama may ease US travel to Cuba even if Congress won’t act.
The separate powers of the Executive and Congress prevent President Obama from acting solo on a number of issues, but educational travel to Cuba is not one of them. The Executive does not need congressional approval to ease existing travel regulations that prevent most Americans from freely traveling to Cuba. Washington Post columnist Al Kamen predicted this week without flinching: “[L]ook for Obama administration action, after Congress leaves town, to loosen travel restrictions.”
(That would be welcomed in Havana, where officials are currently steamed by the US Treasury’s insistence upon again placing Cuba on its list of state sponsors of terrorism—a designation Havana protests annually).
Speculation has gone so far as the wishful thinking that if Obama maybe does further loosen travel restrictions, Congress will then perhaps be encouraged by the President’s support for the measure and repeal a wider ban on travel by Americans to the island.
John McAuliff of the Havana Note takes a swing at these issues, rounding up the relevant source material in his piece this week. Take a look here.
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