Ex-Trump lawyers call for Insurrection Act changes
The 45th President would reportedly invoke act if reelected
Congress must act to make it more difficult for any U.S. President to deploy U.S. troops into American cities, according to a group of legal experts and former U.S. government officials.
The bipartisan group convened by the American Law Institute and led by former Obama White House Counsel Bob Bauer and former George W. Bush administration Assistant Attorney General Jack Goldsmith released a set of “Principles for Insurrection Act Reform” on Monday — detailing recommended changes to the centuries-old federal law which allows the president to deploy troops on U.S. soil “in cases of insurrections.”
The group “unanimously agrees that Congress should reform the Insurrection Act as soon as possible.”
“There is agreement on both sides of the aisle that the Insurrection Act gives any president too much unchecked power,” Goldsmith said. “The Principles for Insurrection Act Reform proposes a set of core standards to guide constitutionally sound, bipartisan reform that aims to address the Act’s flaws while reflecting the need for U.S. armed forces to remain available in extreme cases to respond to domestic threats.”
The Insurrection Act should be amended to include a provision that makes clear the commander-inchief would deploy the military only when “necessary to protect public safety and security” and only after it becomes clear that local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed by violence.
The group urges lawmakers to craft rules around the use of the Insurrection Act, requiring consultation with the state governor before troop deployment and congressional notification within 24 hours afterwards, limiting deployment to 30 days without renewed authorization by Congress, and the creation of “fasttrack procedure for Congress to vote on renewal of presidential authority under the Insurrection Act.”
The push to change the Insurrection Act comes following reports that former
President Donald Trump, if reelected in November, plans to invoke the act on his first day in office to quash any protests that may arise as a result of his retaking the White House. As it stands, there isn’t really a legal mechanism to prevent Trump — or any president — from invoking the Insurrection Act.
“The Insurrection Act in its current form provides broad authority without sufficient checks and balances. It is an old statute with vague triggers for the indefinite domestic use of military force,” the group wrote.
The group’s signatories included more than one former Trump administration official, including Courtney Simmons Elwood, the general counsel of the C.I.A. under the 45th President, and former Trump National Security Council lawyer John Eisenberg.