Two Democrat senators asked President Joe Biden to take action to prevent future presidents from deploying U.S. troops domestically without permission of state or local authorities, NBC News reported.
In a letter Tuesday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "to issue a policy directive that prohibits the mobilization of active duty military or federalizing National Guard personnel to be deployed against their fellow Americans unless specifically authorized."
Trump said in an interview with Fox News before the election that "we have some very bad people" in the United States. "We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they're the — and it should be very easily handled by — if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen."
The senators wrote in the letter to Biden and Austin: "We urge you to issue a policy directive that makes clear that the narrow application of the Insurrection Act should be limited to instances when State or local authorities are so overwhelmed and that the chief executive of the State requests assistance, or attacks against the U.S. government overwhelm State or local authorities."
They also called for clarification "that the President must consult with Congress to the maximum extent practicable before exercising this authority, as well as transmit to the Federal Register the legal authorities."
The senators conclude the letter by writing: "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 to be devastating."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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