President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy troops to Los Angeles in response to protests is driving a new push in Congress to rein in presidential power.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told POLITICO he is drafting new legislation to sharply limit a president’s ability to deploy troops on American soil — a move he says is urgently needed after the White House sent National Guard soldiers and Marines to the country’s second-largest city after raucous but relatively small demonstrations against immigration arrests.
“The mainstream of America really believes deeply that our military should be used to defend our national interests and security, not to silence protest at home,” he said.
Blumenthal has long sought to overhaul the Insurrection Act and related presidential powers with the goal of preventing a president from federalizing the National Guard or using active-duty forces domestically without speedy congressional oversight.
Under Blumenthal’s proposal, a president could deploy troops domestically for a strictly limited period, possibly 10 or 20 days, he said — after which congressional approval would be required. The restrictions would apply to active-duty and Guard units under federal command.
“We’re sort of beginning to work on another version of it, which we hope to introduce,” Blumenthal said Monday.
Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act, but instead used a separate legal authority to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to protect federal property and personnel amid protests in L.A. Critics, including Blumenthal, argue the move amounts to a “backdoor” attempt to deploy the military in ways that could violate constitutional rights.
Blumenthal’s office is reaching out to other lawmaker offices to reach consensus and build support, but he acknowledged that Republican backing — which eluded his past efforts — will be hard to get. He said he was “hopeful” but “not super confident” he might get support GOP senators who have bucked Trump before, such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
