Legal Security Expert: Trump Has Authority Use Insurrection to Act to Put Down Riots
President Donald Trump has the authority to deploy federal military forces and nationalize state militias to end ongoing rioting via the Insurrection Act, explained Cully Stimson, a legal expert focusing on national and homeland security with the Heritage Foundation. He offered his analysis on Monday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.
Marlow asked what legal options are available to a president in addressing lawlessness.
Stimson replied, “The president does have some authorities under the Constitution, but he’s limited by statute — not only by the Posse Comitatus Act but also by the Insurrection Act. So, he can’t just willy nilly throw the military in there to solve this problem.”
Invocation of the Insurrection Act is best done in coordination with governors, Stimson noted.
“The governors have a key role, just like they did in protecting the health and safety of their citizens in the coronavirus [outbreak] and enforcing the rule of law in their states, and they have to ask for the president’s help for bringing in federal troops,” Stimson stated. “The president has a couple of exceptions he you can use here, but the governors play a key role, and local politicians play a key role, and they have to have the courage to stand up to say something and do something about it.”
Stimson remarked, “You’ve heard about the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, in which Congress limits the president’s ability to use military forces — Title 10 forces, regular military — in domestic law enforcement operations, but if a state — if a governor or the legislature of a state — invokes the Insurrection Act, [then] the President can do that.”
Stimson added, “In 1992 … Governor Pete Wilson asked to invoke the Insurrection Act after the Rodney King riots. President George H. W. Bush [then] federalized California National Guard folks, and brought in active duty Army and Marine folks from bases in that area to the scenes of the riots.”
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