May 10, 2023 - Beyond the Insurrection Act, the Calling Forth Act (Article I Section 8 of the US Constitution) adds the term “invasion,” providing Congress with the power to call “forth the militia to execute laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” There is precedent for federalizing the National Guard under the Calling Forth Act and even using the armed forces for such purposes. Despite what you may hear in the media, the Posse Comitatus Act isn’t the sole source governing legal authorizations of domestic military operations.

January 22, 2025 - However, the Department of Defense can make military equipment or the use of military bases available to any federal, state, or local law enforcement officials for law enforcement purposes; can provide training; and can provide certain support for counterdrug or counter-transnational crime activities. This support is already being used at the U.S. Border.

January 27, 2025 - In the past week, the Defense Department has ordered additional troops to go to the border, with likely more to come. Much of what those troops will be allowed to do — and what they aren’t — is proscribed in federal regulations relating to a law passed at the end of Reconstruction: The Posse Comitatus Act. There is much the act allows, and much it does not. And while it remains a keystone in how the military can be deployed domestically, it can still be trumped by another, even older law: The Insurrection Act.

The Department of Defense (DOD) said the troops will provide "ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support" and will not "directly participate in law enforcement activities." This Sidebar addresses precedent for deploying troops to the border and the President's legal authorities to use the National Guard or the Armed Forces to assist in securing the southwestern border.

November 19, 2024 - Reports suggest that, during his prior term in office, President-elect Trump repeatedly expressed an interest in domestically deploying the military to suppress protests, patrol the border, and advance other administration interests. While military leaders and other advisors often dissuaded him from taking these steps, this may not be the case in a second Trump presidency. Policymakers and private citizens alike need to prepare for the possibility that domestic deployments will become a more common occurrence—and that they may be used in unprecedented or even abusive ways.

June 8, 2025 - The conventional view of the Posse Comitatus Act expressed by the quotation above is not correct. The PCA does not bar the President from sending the military to enforce the law at U.S. borders.

August 17, 2022 - The more than 5,200 active-duty troops being sent by President Donald Trump to the U.S.-Mexico border will be limited in what they can do under a federal law that restricts the military from engaging in law enforcement on American soil.

1 week ago - Washington — President Trump told reporters Wednesday that he has the authority to send U.S. military forces beyond the National Guard into U.S. cities, claiming not even the courts could stop him, but said that hasn't been necessary so far.

February 26, 2025 - Just as sitting presidents have the authority to declare a state of national emergency, they also have the authority to deploy troops to secure our borders under certain circumstances.

U.S. military personnel cannot be used for domestic law enforcement. Q: Are there exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act? ... Comitatus Act. It allows the president to deploy active-duty armed forces and to

April 21, 2025 - The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to use active-duty military personnel to perform law-enforcement duties inside the US. Trump said on Monday said he would consider using the act if federal courts prevented him from deploying ...

October 30, 2018 - PHOENIX — The more than 5,200 active-duty troops being sent by President Donald Trump to the U.S.-Mexico border will be limited in what they can do under a federal law that restricts the military from engaging in law enforcement on American soil.

Outdated laws give presidents far too much leeway to deploy military forces inside the United States. We’re working to reform those laws and establish new safeguards against abuse.

April 17, 2025 - If National Guard troops in Title 32 status are deployed across a state’s borders to another state, it is generally with the authorization of both the requesting and “receiving” states.

June 5, 2020 - The short answer is a limited “yes”. The President does have the authority to call up Active Duty military members and deploy them on American soil IF certain conditions apply.

October 3, 2024 - In contrast, rules for the use of force (“RUF”) are based on a law enforcement and self-defense mission and mindset to include this border deployment. It takes into account domestic legal considerations: This includes the Posse Comitatus Act, the 4th Amendment and existing constitutional provisions. Rules for the use of force cannot authorize force in excess of constitutional reasonableness, nor can it declare certain forces hostile. Beyond the necessary shift from permissive, operational SROE to the more restrictive law enforcement SRUF, the federal military force will likely be operating alongside state National Guard units that have yet to be brought under federal command and control.

November 19, 2024 - During the Trump administration, multiple secretaries of defense waived this requirement for all National Guard southern border deployments. Multiple secretaries made the same determination for the many thousands of National Guard personnel deployed to the Capitol after the Jan. 6 attack. I have not found congressional objection to either of these determinations. The NEA and these mobilization authorities are distinct from the Insurrection Act, a separate set of legal authorities with a separate mobilization provision authorizing the president to use the military to respond to domestic unrest.

December 6, 2024 - President-elect Trump’s confirmation ... constitutional debate. Legal scholars and commentators quickly declared such action forbidden by long-standing prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement....