§2. Limited authority to use the Armed Forces to suppress insurrection or rebellion and quell domestic violence
This section states Congress's constitutional authority under Article I, section 8; Article IV, section 4; and the 14th Amendment, section 5, and revises the Insurrection Act (Chapter 13 of title 10, U.S. Code)—which authorizes the President to deploy the Armed Forces domestically to suppress insurrection, rebellion, domestic violence, or obstruction of laws—by striking current sections 251–255 and inserting new sections 251–257.
New section 251 establishes a policy that such deployments be a last resort, ordered only if state/local authorities and federal civilian law enforcement are unable or fail to act.
New section 252 specifies triggering circumstances, including (1) state-requested assistance for insurrection or rebellion against state/local government or the United States that overwhelms state/local authorities; (2) state-requested assistance (by governor or legislative supermajority) for widespread or severe domestic violence overwhelming state/local authorities; or (3) obstructions of state/federal law depriving constitutional rights (explicitly including Voting Rights Act provisions and 52 U.S.C. 10101 on voting rights protections), where state/local authorities or federal civilian law enforcement are unable, fail, or refuse to act, with deployments in voting rights cases subject to 52 U.S.C. 10102, 18 U.S.C. 592 and 593, and related statutes.
New section 253 authorizes the President to order reserve components to active duty and deploy the Armed Forces if section 252 conditions are met, subject to limitations maintaining military chain of command (per 10 U.S.C. 162(b)), adherence to the Standing Rules for the Use of Force (CJCSI 3121.01B or successor), and prohibitions on suspending habeas corpus or violating federal or state law.
New section 254 requires presidential consultation with Congress (to the extent practicable), a proclamation specifying the section 252 basis and ordering dispersal within a reasonable time (transmitted to Congress and the Federal Register), and a contemporaneous report to congressional leadership detailing circumstances.