Kelly, Slotkin, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Rein Abuse of National Guard in Domestic Deployments
Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the No Troops in Our Streets Act, legislation to apply limits on the Trump administration’s ability to deploy the National Guard into American communities, while injecting $1 billion in new resources for state and local law enforcement to fight crime. The No Troops in Our Streets Act gives Congress the ability to stop a military deployment at home with a streamlined floor vote.
“As a Navy combat veteran, I know the men and women in uniform serve to protect the nation, not to be used as political tools by any president,” said Kelly. “We’re drawing a clear line by keeping the military focused on defending our country while giving communities the resources they need to fight crime.”
“The U.S. military should always remain apolitical and should never be used as a domestic police force on our streets at the whims of a President,” said Slotkin. “I served alongside our military, and I care about the men and women in our uniformed military deeply. This legislation ensures that no president, Democrat or Republican, can turn our soldiers against our citizens by seeking to restore checks and balances in these domestic deployments, while also addressing the root source of crime in communities.”
“Our brave military men and women signed up to defend the Constitution and our rights, not to be used as political props or silence dissent,” said Duckworth. “These un-American, unjustified deployments of troops into our cities do nothing to fight crime—they only serve to intimidate Americans in their own neighborhoods. I’m introducing this legislation with my colleagues to stop Trump’s gross misuse of our military and devote more resources toward efforts that would actually help our local law enforcement—which Trump has actually defunded to the tune of $800 million.”
“This legislation establishes guardrails on the President’s enormous power to deploy military force against Americans at home. Our military is the bulwark of our freedom, defending against foreign threats, not policing in streets and neighborhoods. We must assure that our Armed Forces can focus on our national security interests rather than the local law enforcement—and impose accountability to the President’s potential abuse of authority,” said Blumenthal.
“Unnecessary deployments of troops to peaceful cities like Portland are hurting morale and military readiness, intimidating law-abiding citizens and wasting taxpayer money to satisfy Donald Trump’s authoritarian fantasies,” said Wyden. “While there are already clear legal and constitutional barriers to unjust military deployments on U.S. soil, the No Troops in Our Streets Act ensures Congress can quickly and effectively check any president who mobilizes troops without good cause.”
Background:
In recent months, President Trump has used the United States military to patrol American streets in cities like Los Angeles, Portland, and Washington D.C., an unprecedented and dangerous escalation of executive power. The president has deployed, or attempted to deploy, more than 7,000 U.S. troops to five American cities in total, despite the strong objections of governors and mayors. He has also threatened to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to authorize raids, arrests, and detentions by U.S. military forces in domestic communities.
This legislation applies to all domestic military deployments under federal law. It does not restrict state-level deployments ordered by governors, responses to natural disasters, or when the military is supporting law enforcement functions like securing the border.
Read the full bill here.
