Laws governing domestic use of the U.S. military should be updated to prevent any abuses by a potential second Trump administration, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Monday.
While acknowledging that any reforms to the laws would be a heavy lift with Republicans, Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., called for changes to the Insurrection Act and Posse Comitatus Act amid GOP presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's stated desire to use the military against "enemies from within" the U.S.
"I think that would be seriously considered, particularly if Trump was 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 would hope many of my colleagues on the other side would consider they have to put in checks and balances that are lacking."
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"The Insurrection Act could be improved significantly," he continued. "It's not as clear as it was, and it was drafted a very long time ago. And also the Posse Comitatus Act could be looked at."
The Insurrection Act is law first passed in 1792 that allows the president to deploy the military domestically under certain circumstances, namely to quell violent rebellion. The Posse Comitatus Act from 1878 generally prohibits the military from being used as a domestic police force.
Reed was speaking 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 is essentially tied with Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
The chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee also used the call to allege Trump would "destroy" the Defense Department. He cast the election as a choice between "whether we continue as a constitutional democracy subject to the rule of law or the rule of a few people, led by Donald Trump, to the detriment of everything that we've sacrificed."
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly talked about turning federal power, including the military, against American citizens he describes as "the enemy from within."
For example, in an interview on Fox News earlier this month in which he repeated his baseless allegation of Democrats stealing the election, Trump said he thinks "radical left lunatics" should be "very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen."
While some of Trump's allies, such as his vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance, have claimed Trump is referring to rioters, Trump has named specific Democratic politicians he considers the enemies within.
Democrats have also been highlighting comments from Trump's former chief of staff, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, where Kelly called Trump a fascist and said the former president has privately praised Nazi leader Adolf Hilter.
Reed, too, pointed to those comments Monday, and said he is also concerned that Trump would "act like a fascist" if reelected.
"He wants generals that put total fealty to Trump above the Constitution," Reed said. "He will destroy the Department of Defense, frankly. He will go in and he will dismiss generals who stand up for the Constitution. He will try to insinuate his followers who are loyal to him and him alone."
"He already demonstrated at the end of his last term his willingness to essentially fire the civilian senior defense employees through his Schedule F," Reed added, referring to a plan Trump enacted in last days of his presidency that he has said he would revive to strip employment protections from civil servants and install political appointees in their place.
Democrats have proposed to reform the Insurrection Act since Trump's first term in office when he flirted with deploying the military against racial justice protesters in the summer of 2020. Scholars have also proposed updating the law, arguing vague wording is ripe for abuse.
A Military.com investigation found few checks exist if a president were to illegally order the military to be used against U.S. citizens, particularly if the president invokes the Insurrection Act.
But legislative efforts at reform have stalled with Republicans in control of the House, and Democrats having too slim a majority in the Senate to muscle through legislation on their own.
Acknowledging the political reality of the current makeup of Congress, Reed on Monday dismissed the idea of using the annual defense policy bill being negotiated right now to try to prevent Trump's ability to deploy troops domestically. Still, he said reforms to the Insurrection Act and Posse Comitatus Act should be "subject to consideration seriously."
"But with the Republicans being so obedient so far to Trump, that's to me, the real question: Is someone going to have -- not just one, but many -- going to have the courage to stand up and reform the laws?"
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