Trump wants to send troops to the inner cities. A top senator wants to rein him in.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal is contacting other lawmakers in his bid to overhaul the Insurrection Act.
A top Democratic senator is renewing his effort to rein in Donald Trump’s — or any other future president’s — authority to deploy the military inside the U.S., following recent threats from the former commander in chief to use troops to tamp down violence in cities if reelected.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a senior member of the Homeland, Armed Services and Judiciary committees, told POLITICO he is seeking Republicans and Democrats to join his latest effort to overhaul the law involving deployments inside the U.S., known as the Insurrection Act.
The law, enacted in 1792, grants the president the authority to deploy the military domestically and use it against Americans to suppress rebellion or violence. But Blumenthal and other critics argue that it is overly broad and ripe for abuse.
“Ideally, there would be interest on the Republican side because the potential for abuse really ought to concern all of us, regardless of who was president,” Blumenthal said.
Trump’s back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire have tightened his grip on the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, prompting worried lawmakers and foreign governments to devise plans to prepare for and protect against more upheaval.
The renewed push comes after Trump told an Iowa audience that he considered, but held back from, deploying the military to inner cities to fight crime. He also called New York City and Chicago “crime dens.”
“And one of the other things I’ll do — because you’re supposed to not be involved in that — you just have to be asked by the governor or the mayor to come in. The next time, I’m not waiting,” Trump said in November. “One of the things I did was let them run it, and we’re going to show how bad a job they do. Well, we did that. We don’t have to wait any longer.”
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Trump wants to send troops to the inner cities. A top senator wants to rein him in. https://t.co/JwDHIgWARi
— POLITICO (@politico) January 24, 2024
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