Two Democratic senators are calling on the Biden administration to issue a policy directive that could temporarily limit the ability of President-elect Donald Trump to deploy US troops domestically after he takes office.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who are both members of the Armed Services Committee. and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. a letter Dated November 26 He urged President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to issue a policy directive that would ensure U.S. troops can be used only when local or state authorities request federal assistance or are unable or unwilling to protect the public.
“We urge you to issue a policy directive prohibiting the mobilization of active-duty military personnel or the deployment of federalized National Guard personnel against fellow Americans unless specifically authorized,” they said.
After taking office on January 20, Trump could issue his own policy directive that would overturn Biden’s directive. Warren and Blumenthal, whose offices say the letter speaks for itself, appear to hope that public coverage of the issue may deter Trump.
During his first term, Trump considered using the Sedition Act in response Black Lives Matter protests. And some of his allies called to think After losing the 2020 elections, he declared martial law.
Trump recently suggested that he would use the US military to deport immigrants without permanent legal status. He also said he would move US troops out of the country and station them on the southern border. And Trump has repeatedly talked about using troops to go after the “enemy from within.”
In an interview with Fox News before the election, he said: “I think the bigger problem is the people from the inside. We have very bad people. We have sick, radical leftist lunatics. I think they should — and they have to manage this very easily — the National Guard if necessary, or the military if they really have to, because they can’t afford it.”
Federal troops there is is prohibited from being busy The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, a law that prohibits the president from using the military for domestic law enforcement unless expressly authorized by the Constitution or an act of Congress.
The Sedition Act, a combination of various statutes passed by Congress from 1792 to 1871, provides an exception. It allows the president to deploy military troops in the event of a rebellion, insurrection, or extreme civil unrest.
In their letter, Warren and Blumenthal asked the Biden administration to issue a policy directive requiring state or local officials to request assistance before Biden leaves office before federal military forces are deployed.
“We urge you to issue a policy directive that clearly states that the narrow application of the sedition law should be limited to cases where state or local authorities are overwhelmed and the chief executive officer of the state seeks relief,” they wrote, “or attacks against the United States government by state or local subverts the authorities”.
Civil liberties organizations have warned that Trump could abuse the military in his second term. Joseph Nunn, an adviser to the Brennan Justice Center’s Freedom and National Security Program at NYU Law, warned that the Sedition Act gives the president virtually unlimited discretion and authority to use the military as a police force, essentially creating a loophole. In Posse Comitatus Law.
“Unless Congress acts now to reform this dangerous and antiquated law, there is little anyone can do to stop it.” Nunn wrote last year, Citing fears that Trump would abuse his power if re-elected.
Warren and Blumenthal also asked the White House to ensure that future administrations go to Congress before turning to domestic law enforcement agencies.
“Finally, we urge you to clarify that the president must consult with Congress as much as possible before exercising this authority, as well as transfer statutory authority to the Federal Register.”
He warned that it is the final decision of the Supreme Court expanded presidential immunity due to official acts made the need for a clear policy even more urgent.
“Given scholarly disagreement over the serious implications of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, it is reasonable to assume that service members, other Department of Defense personnel, and the broader military community may not know or fully understand their rights and responsibilities,” Warren and Blumenthal wrote. .
“If left unchecked,” they added, “any uncertainty about the legal use of military force, combined with President-elect Trump’s intention to use the military in such a dangerous and unprecedented way, could be devastating.”