Presidents have only rarely bypassed governors and, without their consent, commanded federal military assets (both active duty military and federalized National Guard units) to deal with domestic unrest, largely during the Civil Rights Movement (the last time governors were cut out of the picture was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson federalized members of the National Guard to protect civil rights protesters marching from Selma to Montgomery). Traditionally, when used domestically, National Guard units typically continue to fall under the command and control of their governor (or are federalized only at the request of the affected governor), except in the very rare cases not seen since the 1960s, like during the desegregation of the high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. By inflaming tensions by sending in federal troops (the guard units deployed to L.A. are indistinguishable from active duty troops now that they are federalized, though far better trained in law enforcement than active duty units), Trump may have created the need to invoke the Insurrection Act, thus allowing him to order not only the National Guard, but also active duty troops to police the streets of Los Angeles.
Author: Rachel E. VanLandingham
Published at: 2025-06-09 22:00:45
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