The Insurrection Act – Can The POTUS Deploy The National Guard To America’s Cities? | Armstrong Economics

The National Guard’s deployment to Washington, D.C., was a successful endeavor. For the first time, the city went twelve days without a homicide. Carjacking decreased by 83%, robberies fell 46%, and overall violent crime fell 22%. The same program may be implemented in Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and New York, but Democratic leaders insist it is unconstitutional.
“Chicago is a killing field,” the POTUS commented, calling Mayor Brandon Johnson “grossly incompetent.” Governor JB Pritzker is threatening to sue if Trump sends troops to his state. “First thing we’re gonna do is take him to court because it’s illegal. It’s unconstitutional,” Pritzker said. “Frankly, it’s un-American to send troops into an American city the way that he wants to to fight crime. There is literally a law on the books that says he’s not allowed to do that.”
Insurrection Act, codified at 10 U.S.C. §§ 251–254 does permit the president to deploy federal troops or the National Guard to states. Now, D.C. is not a state and the National Guard answers to the president directly. Trump was easily able to mobilize troops into D.C. after declaring a “crime emergency.” Deploying troops to other states may prove difficult without a specific request from the governor or evidence of a rebellion or denial of civil rights beyond the scope of local authorities.
- 252. Use of militia and armed forces to enforce Federal authority
Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.
10 U.S.C. § 251:
Allows the President to deploy troops if requested by a state’s legislature or governor to suppress an insurrection within that state. This clause requires state consent and applies to insurrections against state governments.
10 U.S.C. § 252:
Permits the President to deploy troops unilaterally to any state to suppress insurrections, domestic violence, unlawful combinations, or conspiracies that make it impracticable to enforce federal laws. This clause does not require state consent.
10 U.S.C. § 253:
Authorizes deployment to any state where insurrection, domestic violence, or conspiracies result in the deprivation of constitutionally secured rights, and where the state is unable, fails, or refuses to protect those rights. This also does not require state consent.
Could the president declare a “crime emergency” in other American cities to bypass Democratic governors? It remains to be seen. However, one must question whether these governors are protecting their political party or their constituents.
Pritzker and Johnson insist Chicago is safe, but residents have taken to social media to prove otherwise. Pritzker posted a video of himself walking through one of the nicer areas of Chicago to claim the city was safe. Residents took to social media immediately to challenge him to come to their side of town without armed security. “Tell Brandon Johnson and Pritzker, if Chicago is so safe, with Brandon Johnson especially, let’s leave his 150 police detail. Fire them and walk around with no police detail. And Pritzker, no security,” one resident told reporters. “Come in my community, the South Side of Chicago. Come over there, and let’s see you say how safe it is. You can’t even sit in your car alone. If you sit in your car, you know there is a chance you’re going to get carjacked, robbed or shot. So tell him to come around in my neck of the woods and talk that.”
I am sounding the alarm on the real crisis we face today.
Donald Trump’s overreach is what our founders warned against – it is unprecedented, unwarranted, and un-American.
There’s no emergency here that calls for military intervention. pic.twitter.com/qokhDNGMKX
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) August 25, 2025
“We just had four mass shootings in a span of one month. Fourteen people got shot and four dead. We just had senior citizens laying shot, bleeding in the streets. And let’s not forget the gentleman who we saw, who was on Facebook Live, get robbed and shot while he was sitting in his car. So we don’t care about anything these people are saying,” one resident told Fox News.
The same situation unfolds every single time that a blue candidate is put into office. The Democrats are so desperate for voters that they are hoping pro-crime policies will convince the people that they are for less government intervention. The truth of the matter is that America’s cities are not safe and local law enforcement does not have the manpower or legal tools to quell the problem.