Image: from the Brennan Center.

This page is part of a resource collection on Authoritarianism & Bigotry in the Second Trump Administration.

Overviews

Jamelle Bouie: What is the Insurrection Act and how does it work?

Christine Hauser & William Lamb: What Is the Insurrection Act of 1807? Legal experts regard the act as a major exception to the law that generally forbids the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.

Joseph Nunn & Elizabeth Goitein: The Insurrection Act, Explained: The vague and rarely used law gives the president broad power to deploy the military domestically — but it’s not a blank check.

News: 2026

January 15.   Anna Betts: Trump threatens to use Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to ICE protests.

January 16.   Meg Anderson & Michel Martin: Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to stop anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis.

January 17.   Isaac Chotiner: Can Trump Really Use the Insurrection Act? An expert on Presidential emergency powers discusses the history and legality of military deployments in American cities.

News: 2025

June 9.   NPR: The Insurrection Act is back on the table.

June 13.   Sidney Blumenthal: Trump’s insurrection routine: fuel violence, spawn chaos, shrug off the law.

June 23.   Julian E. Zelizer: A Rare Presidential Power Could Enable Trump’s Authoritarianism: To rein in executive authority, Congress needs to reform the Insurrection Act.

October 7.   The Guardian: What is the Insurrection Act, and can Trump use it? President has threatened to invoke 19th-century law as a means to control mobilization of national guard troops.

News: 2024

March 28, 2024:   Carrie Johnson: Legal experts worry about presidential abuse of the Insurrection Act. Here’s why.