Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act if Minnesota doesn’t stop ‘attacking ICE agents’
What is the Insurrection Act that Trump has threatened to invoke?
- The Insurrection Act of 1807 permits the U.S. president to deploy military or federalize state National Guard to contain insurrections or enforce laws within a U.S. state.
- The Act allows the president to use land or naval forces for these purposes, provided all legal prerequisites are observed.
- It acts as an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which limits federal government interference in state law enforcement.
- Trump has suggested he would invoke the Act multiple times during his first and second terms.
- Last October, Trump told reporters he was “allowed” to send the National Guard troops to Portland under the provisions of this measure.