Trump keeps name-checking the Insurrection Act. It could give him extraordinary powers

"There are few laws President Trump name-checks more frequently than the Insurrection Act. A 200-year-old constellation of statutes, the act grants emergency powers to thrust active-duty soldiers into civilian police duty, something otherwise barred by federal law. Trump and his team have threatened to invoke it almost daily for weeks - most recently on Monday, after a reporter pressed the president about his escalating efforts to dispatch federalized troops to Democrat-led cities."

"Roughly a third of U.S. presidents have called on the statutes at some point - but history also shows the law has been used only in moments of extraordinary crisis and political upheaval. The Insurrection Act was Abraham Lincoln's sword against secessionists and Dwight D. Eisenhower's shield around the Little Rock Nine, the young Black students who were the first to desegregate schools in Arkansas."

"But it has just as often been wielded to crush labor strikes and strangle protest movements. The last time it was invoked, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was in elementary school and most U.S. soldiers had not yet been born. Now, many fear Trump could call on the law to quell opposition to his agenda. "The Democrats were fools not to amend the Insurrection Act in 2021," said Kevin Carroll, former senior counsel in the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term."

President Trump repeatedly references the Insurrection Act and has threatened to invoke it to dispatch federal troops to Democrat-led cities. The act is a 200-year-old set of statutes that allows presidents to deploy active-duty soldiers for domestic policing, overriding federal barriers. Historically, roughly a third of presidents have used it in extraordinary crises, with Abraham Lincoln, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant invoking it to confront secession, enforce school desegregation and suppress violent uprisings. The law has also been used to break labor strikes and quash protests. Legal observers and former officials warn the statute grants the president broad power and limits judicial review.

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