What the Law Says About Deploying Troops on U.S. Soil
President Donald Trump, responding to sometimes-violent protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, said he would send in the U.S. military to “quickly solve” the problems of looting and rioting if the nation’s mayors and governors did not act forcefully enough.
Demonstrators protest near the White House in Washington, D.C. on June 1.
Photographer: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump, responding to sometimes-violent protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, said he would send in the U.S. military to “quickly solve” the problems of looting and rioting if the nation’s mayors and governors did not act forcefully enough. The use of the armed forces within U.S. borders is strictly governed by federal law, however, and there would be serious questions about the legality of such a move.
The 1878 federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, along with amendments and supporting regulations, generally bars the use of the active-duty U.S. military -- the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines -- from carrying out domestic law enforcement. The law doesn’t apply to state-based National Guard units, some of which have already been deployed to help with the current unrest. Important exceptions to the law, and the ones Trump likely meant to invoke, are contained in the 1807 Insurrection Act and its modern iterations, which allow the president, without congressional approval, to employ the military for domestic use in certain circumstances.