Experts in constitutional law and the military say the Insurrection Act gives presidents tremendous power with few restraints. Recent statements by former President Donald Trump raise questions about how he might use it if he wins another term.

Campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump said he was prevented during his presidency from using the military to quell violence in primarily Democratic cities and states.

Calling New York City and Chicago “crime dens,” the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, “The next time, I’m not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and we’re going to show how bad a job they do,” he said. “Well, we did that. We don’t have to wait any longer.”

Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the country’s borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signaled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries.

A law first crafted in the nation’s infancy would give Trump as commander in chief almost unfettered power to do so, military and legal experts said in a series of interviews.

  • Nougat@kbin.social
    81·
    11 months ago

    The point of the article is that it may not be illegal:

    The Insurrection Act allows presidents to call on reserve or active-duty military units to respond to unrest in the states, an authority that is not reviewable by the courts. One of its few guardrails merely requires the president to request that the participants disperse.

    Even if it is, Trump would hold it up in the courts while military was still on the ground. That’s what he does - whatever he wants, dare anyone to stop him, stall the courts that try to do so while he continues to do whatever he wants.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
      9·
      11 months ago

      People seem to have conveniently forgotten how he basically gish galloped his way through all our supposed guardrails, and when it was found that what he did wasn’t legal, it was far too late, and he was already onto Step 5.