Senate Armed Services Chairman backs domestic military reform bills to prevent Trump abuses

Laws governing the domestic use of the US military must be updated to prevent abuse by a possible second Trump administration, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Monday.

While Chairman Jack Reed, DI, acknowledged that any reforms to the laws would be a heavy burden for Republicans, he called for changes to the Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act, amid the expressed desire of the former GOP presidential candidate , Donald Trump, to deploy the military. against ‘enemies from within’ the US

“I think this would be seriously considered, especially if Trump were elected and continued this very, very harsh rhetoric,” Reed told reporters on a call in response to a question from Military.com about reforming the Insurrection Act . “Because I hope that many of my colleagues on the other side would consider putting in place the missing checks and balances.”

“The Insurrection Act could be significantly improved,” he continued. “It’s not as clear as it was, and it was drafted a very long time ago. And the Posse Comitatus Act could also be looked at.”

The Insurrection Act is a law first passed in 1792 that allows the president to use the military domestically under certain circumstances, namely to suppress violent rebellion. The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits the military from being used as a domestic police force.

Reed spoke to reporters as the presidential election enters its final week, and Democrats focus their closing arguments on Trump’s threats to democracy, while polls show the former president essentially tied with Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

The chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee also used the call to claim Trump would “destroy” the Defense Department. He called the election a choice between “whether we continue as a constitutional democracy subject to the rule of law or the rule of a few, led by Donald Trump, at the cost of everything we have sacrificed.”

In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly talked about reversing federal power, including the military. against American citizens whom he describes as ‘the enemy from within’.

For example, in an interview on Fox News earlier this month, in which he repeated his baseless accusation that Democrats were stealing the election, Trump said he believes “radical left crazies” should be “dealt with very easily, if necessary, by National Guardor, if it’s really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

While some Trump allies, such as his vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance, claim Trump is referring to rioters, has named specific Democratic politicians he takes into account the enemies within.

Democrats have also turned their attention comments from Trump’s former chief of staffretired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, where Kelly called Trump a fascist and said the former president had privately praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Reed also pointed out those comments on Monday, saying he is also concerned that Trump would “act like a fascist” if he were re-elected.

“He wants generals who will put total loyalty to Trump above the Constitution,” Reed said. “He will, quite frankly, destroy the Department of Defense. He will go in and fire generals who stand up for the Constitution. He will try to insinuate his followers who are loyal to him and him alone.”

“He has already shown his willingness at the end of his last term to essentially lay off the civilian senior defense personnel through his Schedule F,” Reed added, referring to a plan Trump issued in the final days of his presidency and that he said he would revive to strip labor protections from civil servants and appoint political appointees in their place.

Democrats have proposed reform the Insurrection Act since Trump’s first term, when he flirted with deploying the military against racial justice protesters in the summer of 2020. Scholars have also suggested updating the law, arguing that vague language is ripe for abuse.

A Military.com Research has shown that there are few controls if a president were to illegally order the use of the military against American citizens, especially if the president invoked the Insurrection Act.

But legislative reform efforts have stalled because Republicans control the House of Representatives and Democrats have too small a majority in the Senate to pass legislation on their own.

Recognizing the political reality of the current makeup of Congress, Reed on Monday rejected the idea of using the annual defense policy bill currently under negotiation to try to prevent Trump’s ability to deploy troops domestically. Still, he said reforms to the Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act “should be seriously considered.”

“But with Republicans so obedient to Trump so far, that to me is the real question: Will anyone – not just one, but many – have the courage to stand up and reform the laws?”

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