Warren urges Biden to limit Trump’s ability to use US military against Americans

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is publicly calling on President Joe Biden and Lloyd Austin, Biden’s defense secretary, to take action to limit the possible use of active U.S. military and National Guard personnel against Americans once President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2025.

In a letter released Monday, Warren and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on Biden and Austin to issue a policy directive specifying that federal insurrection law should only be used in narrow cases, such as: B. when local and state authorities are overwhelmed, request help or when attacks against the United States leave local and state authorities unable to respond effectively.

Warren and Blumenthal also proposed that the policy directive specify that presidents consult Congress “to the fullest extent possible” before using the military under the Insurrection Act and that any military deployed domestically be bound by the Standing Rules for the Use of Force is bound “and must not violate the Habeas Corpus Ordinance, federal law or, if applicable, federal or state law.”

As the letter states, Trump has repeatedly talked about using the military for domestic political purposes, including securing the border and quelling protests. Before his re-election, he also said he would be a dictator on his first day in office but not after that, describing his political opponents as the “enemy within.”

Warren and Blumenthal argue that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. United States, which found that presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for the commission of official acts, makes it particularly important to examine Trump’s future use of the insurrection Restrict Act.

“If left unaddressed, any confusion about the lawful use of military force, coupled with President-elect Trump’s demonstrated intent to use the military in such dangerous and unprecedented ways, could prove devastating,” they wrote.

Asked whether Trump could simply undo a policy created by Biden, Warren told GBH News: “No political fight is ever an end. This action would sound a warning alarm for the future and force the next Trump administration to justify any expansion of the military’s role against its fellow citizens.”

Juliette Kayyem, a lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a former deputy secretary in President Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security, called the letter an attempt to convey that Trump’s possible misuse of the military posed a real and imminent danger.

“Americans don’t seem to believe what a threat Trump poses in this regard, and I welcome drawing the line in the sand,” said Kayyem, who also served as homeland security adviser to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. “It won’t have a big impact on Trump, but to the extent that Democrats have a few weeks to lay the groundwork to protect democracy, this is one of the few (opportunities) to show how much Trump is Plans deviate from the norm.” ”