With a little over a month left in Biden’s only Presidential term, democratic lawmakers in Washington DC are urging him to issue a policy that could limit incoming President Donald Trump’s ability to use the military domestically. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal sent a joint letter to Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, begging them to issue a directive mandating that the military can only be used domestically when state and local law enforcement request federal help.
This comes after Trump and his administration have repeatedly threatened to use the military to round up undocumented immigrants for deportation. Trump has also mentioned using US troops to go after “the enemy within.”
“I think the bigger problem is the people from within. We have some evil people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News before his election victory. “It should be very easily handled by – if necessary, by [the] National Guard or, if necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
Currently, an 1878 federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits federal troops from stepping into the domain of domestic law enforcement. This law also bans the President from using the military domestically unless expressly authorized by the Constitution or an act of Congress. However, with a Republican majority in the next congressional term, democrats fear this law won’t be enough to stop Trump from using the US military against the country’s residents.
Additionally, the Insurrection Act may provide a loophole for Trump. According to the laws passed between 1792 and 1871, military troops could be deployed domestically for insurrection, rebellion, or extreme civil unrest. With the definition of “extreme civil unrest” left vague, SCOTUS’s interpretation would likely fall in Trump’s defense.
“Given the disagreement amongst scholars on the serious implications of the recent Supreme Court decision, it is reasonable to assume that service members, other DoD personnel, and the broader military community may not be aware of or fully understand their rights and responsibilities,” Warren and Blumenthal warned.
“If unaddressed, any ambiguity on the lawful use of military force, coupled with President-elect Trump’s demonstrated intent to utilize the military in such dangerous and unprecedented ways, may prove devastating.”
