04/08/2024
Guidance for Insurrection Act Reform Issued by Bipartisan Group
Today, a bipartisan group led by Bob Bauer (NYU School of Law and former White House Counsel to President Obama) and Jack Goldsmith (Harvard Law School and former Assistant Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration) issued “Principles for Insurrection Act Reform.” The distinguished group, convened at the invitation of The American Law Institute, is made up of persons with a range of legal and political views who have a rich variety of backgrounds in constitutional law, national security law, and military law, and have held senior positions in government.
The Principles propose deleting antiquated terms that lack settled contemporary meaning and strengthening conditions for the Act’s use. The Principles state that “a reformed Insurrection Act should more clearly specify (i) the goal of ensuring enforcement and (ii) the requirement that the deployment be necessary to protect public safety and security.” For example, many states and municipalities now have robust police forces, and the president has access to substantial federal law-enforcement capacity. The Principles suggest that the Insurrection Act be amended to make clear that the president may not deploy the armed forces unless “the violence [is] such that it overwhelms the capacity of federal, state, and local authorities to protect public safety and security.”
The Principles also urge Congress to adopt reporting and consultation requirements, and time-limit constraints, on presidential deployments under the Insurrection Act. In particular, the Principles recommend that the reformed Insurrection Act:
- Require consultation with the governor before deploying troops into any state;
- Require the president to report to Congress, within 24 hours of deployment, on the need to invoke the Insurrection Act and on consultations held with state authorities;
- Limit the president’s authority to deploy troops under the Act to a maximum of 30 days absent renewed congressional authorization; and
- Establish a fast-track procedure for Congress to vote on renewal of presidential authority under the Insurrection Act.
Finally, the Principles state that Insurrection Act reform need not and should not include a provision for judicial review.
Read more or download the full report: https://bit.ly/3vQVuN9