Garamendi, Thompson warn Trump against invoking the Insurrection Act

Yesterday, Congressmen John Garamendi and Mike Thompson slammed President Donald Trump for threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty military forces for domestic law enforcement, which would be a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which explicitly prohibits the use of the military for law enforcement purposes.

This action came after President Trump’s attempted deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago and for suggesting that San Francisco would be ‘next.’

While Trump called off his decision to send troops to the Bay Area, the threat remains.

“Our country, like all democracies, has long recognized that military power must be carefully regulated and that armed forces must faithfully follow the law,” Garamendi said. “If Donald Trump were to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to peaceful protests or disturbances best handled by local law enforcement, he would be turning back 200 years of American precedent. My message to Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth is this: stop using the military against our own people. Since 1776, Americans have prided themselves in standing against kings. Today and every day, my colleagues and I will continue to stand up to this wannabe king.”

“We won’t be intimidated by the President’s attempts to militarize our streets,” said Thompson. “The law is clear: the president cannot invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops in a state that hasn’t requested the help. Let’s be clear: Californians don’t want American military personnel policing our streets. And Democratic members of Congress are not going to stand by and wait for this president to misuse our military to intimidate American civilians. We’ve got to put an end to this before it begins.”

The letter was also signed by the following representatives: Ami Bera; André Carson; Gilbert Cisneros; Steve Cohen; Herbert Conaway; Jason Crow; Madeleine Dean; Christopher Deluzio; Mark DeSaulnier; Lloyd Doggett; Dwight Evans; Al Green; Jahana Hayes; Jared Huffman; Jonathan Jackson; Sara Jacobs; Henry Johnson; Julie Johnson; Ro Khanna; Raja Krishnamoorthi; Sam Liccardo; Ted Lieu; Zoe Lofgren; Seth Magaziner; Doris Matsui; James McGovern; Dave Min; Seth Moulton; Kevin Mullin; Jerrold Nadler; Eleanor Holmes Norton; Jimmy Panetta; Mark Pocan; Mike Quigley; Robert Scott; Brad Sherman; Shri Thanedar; Dina Titus; Rashida Tlaib; Norma Torres; and Derek Tran.

Click here to read the full text of the letter.