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President Donald Trump said Thursday he may invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. troops into Minnesota, threatening a dramatic escalation of federal authority amid protests over a fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and mounting tensions between the White House and Democratic state officials.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, describing the unrest as a “travesty” and accusing state leaders of failing to protect federal agents.
The president’s remarks come as thousands of federal law enforcement officers have been sent to Minnesota as part of a sweeping immigration crackdown and fraud investigations, intensifying clashes with local officials who say federal tactics are inflaming unrest rather than restoring order.
Invoking the Insurrection Act would allow Trump to deploy National Guard units or active-duty troops into Minnesota without the consent of Gov. Tim Walz, overriding long-standing norms that limit the military’s role in domestic law enforcement.
What is the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act dates back to the 1790s and grants the president sweeping authority to deploy military forces on U.S. soil during periods of unrest. The law, last substantively amended in 1874, allows presidents to use troops to enforce federal law or suppress rebellion largely at their own discretion.
The statute contains three main provisions. One allows the president to send troops at a state’s request to quell an insurrection. Another authorizes unilateral action if the president determines that “unlawful obstructions” or rebellion make it impracticable to enforce federal law. A third permits military intervention when states fail to protect constitutional rights.
“The basic idea is that there might be circumstances when state and local law enforcement resources… would not be able to adequately contain protests or disturbances,” said William Banks, a professor emeritus at Syracuse University who studies the domestic use of military force.
When can it be used?
The law sets no clear procedural limits on presidential discretion. There are no requirements for consulting governors, notifying Congress, or setting time limits on troop deployments.
“It basically says the president can do this whenever he determines that it’s impractical to enforce the laws,” Banks said, calling the statute “incredibly open-ended.”
Joseph Nunn, a counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the act was intended for rare emergencies when civilian authorities are overwhelmed, not routine political conflicts.
“Broad discretion is not the same thing as infinite discretion, and broad discretion can be abused,” Nunn said.
Invoking the Insurrection Act also suspends the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that normally prohibits the military from performing civilian law enforcement duties.
How often has it been used?
The Insurrection Act or its predecessor has been invoked roughly 30 times in U.S. history, according to the Brennan Center. It was last used in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush deployed troops to Los Angeles at the request of California’s governor during riots following the Rodney King verdict.
Presidents have acted unilaterally only five times in the past 130 years, all during the Civil Rights era. Those include Dwight D. Eisenhower’s deployment of troops to enforce school desegregation in Little Rock in 1957 and actions taken by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in the Deep South.
“The idea is that it should rarely, if ever, be invoked,” Banks said.
Has Trump used it before?
Trump has never invoked the Insurrection Act, but he has repeatedly threatened to do so.
In 2020, he publicly considered deploying troops during nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd, though he ultimately backed off amid internal opposition. Since returning to the White House, Trump has renewed those threats, asserting broad and largely unchecked authority to deploy the military domestically.
“And I’d be allowed to do whatever I want,” Trump told reporters last year, suggesting courts would not intervene.
Why Minnesota?
The White House says Trump is considering the Insurrection Act to protect federal agents deployed to Minnesota amid protests sparked by the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer.
Administration officials say agents are facing organized resistance and obstruction from protesters and local leaders. Minnesota officials counter that aggressive federal enforcement tactics — and the deadly shooting itself — have escalated tensions.
The administration has also targeted Minnesota over large-scale fraud investigations, blaming Walz and other Democrats for failing to prevent years-long abuses of federal programs.
Using the Insurrection Act would place troop deployments on firmer legal footing than recent National Guard deployments under Title 10 authority, which were partially blocked by courts and drew skepticism from the Supreme Court in a narrow December ruling.
Could courts intervene?
Possibly — but the legal terrain is largely untested.
“No president’s invocation of the Insurrection Act has ever been blocked by a court,” Nunn said, noting the lack of modern precedent. The only major Supreme Court case on the subject dates to 1827.
Still, Nunn said Minnesota would likely argue that Trump exceeded the law’s intent by invoking it in the absence of a true insurrection.
“There is no insurrection,” he said. “Who exactly is being protected?”
Nunn added that the Supreme Court’s recent discomfort with Trump’s use of troops under other authorities suggests the justices could scrutinize an Insurrection Act deployment closely if challenged.
