The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision Tuesday to rebuff the Trump administration's efforts to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois gives the White House "a whole lot of latitude and flexibility by ruling that the way they did," retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Thursday.
"The only thing that President [Donald] Trump is left with, really, is the Insurrection Act, which he can declare under three separate criteria," Holt said on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
"And in the cases of federally or elected state officials that refused to comply with federal law, or you have American citizens that are at risk, those are two of the three criteria where the president can go.
"I can use any force I want, and I don't need to even worry about Posse Comitatus. So, you've crossed the line.
"There's the Insurrection Act. Chicago, get ready to meet the 82nd Airborne. And that's what we're going to do," he added.
The Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878, generally prohibits the U.S. military from carrying out domestic law enforcement, reflecting long-standing concerns about using federal troops to police civilians.
The law bars the Army and Air Force, and by policy the Navy and Marine Corps, from making arrests or enforcing civil laws in the United States, with notable exceptions including deployments of the National Guard under state authority and presidential action under the Insurrection Act.
The statute has drawn renewed attention as debates intensify over the federal government's role in responding to civil unrest, border security, and other domestic challenges.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to let Trump send National Guard troops to the Chicago area as the Republican president expands the use of the military for domestic purposes in a growing number of Democrat-led jurisdictions, a policy critics call an effort to punish adversaries and stifle dissent.
The justices let stand for now a judge's order blocking the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops in a legal challenge brought by Illinois officials and local leaders. The Department of Justice had sought to allow the deployment while the case proceeds.
The order said the president's authority to take federal control of National Guard troops likely applies only in "exceptional" circumstances.
Three conservative justices on the court said they dissented from the order: Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that Trump "promised the American people he would work tirelessly to enforce our immigration laws and protect federal personnel from violent rioters" and that "nothing in today's ruling detracts from that core agenda."
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called the ruling "an important step in curbing the Trump administration's consistent abuse of power and slowing Trump's march toward authoritarianism."
It was a rare setback for the Trump administration in the high court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority and has frequently backed his broad assertions of presidential authority since his return to the White House.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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