“A bill to provide limited authority to use the Armed Forces to suppress insurrection or rebellion and quell domestic violence.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C. Chapter 13) by striking current sections 251 through 255 and inserting new sections 251 through 254 that limit presidential authority to deploy the Armed Forces domestically. As background, the Insurrection Act authorizes the President to federalize the National Guard or deploy other military forces within the United States to suppress insurrections, rebellions, domestic violence, or obstructions to law when state authorities cannot or will not act. The revisions establish (1) a new policy under §251 that such deployments are a last resort after state/local authorities and federal civilian law enforcement fail; (2) triggering circumstances under §252 limited to specified insurrections/rebellions (with or without a governor's request), widespread domestic violence (with a governor's or state legislative supermajority request), or obstructions to state/federal laws or constitutional rights (including Voting Rights Act protections under 52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq. or 52 U.S.C. 10101, with deployments subject to related voting safeguards such as 52 U.S.C. 10102); (3) presidential authority under §253 to activate reserves and deploy forces if triggers are met, subject to limitations including subordination to military chain of command (§162(b)), adherence to Standing Rules for the Use of Force, and prohibitions on habeas corpus suspension or violations of federal/state law; and (4) procedural requirements under §254 for congressional consultation, a public proclamation specifying the legal basis and ordering dispersal, and a contemporaneous report to congressional leadership. (Thus, deployments for voting rights obstructions explicitly trigger equal protection considerations and additional statutory limits.)