Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) is set to introduce legislation next week that would make it illegal for President Trump to deploy active duty service forces to a state or territory without receiving a direct request from the state or territory’s governor.
The Stop Trump’s Abuse of Power Act, revealed first to The Hill, comes after the Trump administration deployed hundreds of Marines and over 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this month amid unrest over the president’s immigration agenda.
“President Trump has shown a disturbing pattern of disregard for the Constitution and due process. This month, he made it harder for local law enforcement to do their jobs in California by unlawfully deploying our military on U.S. soil — further escalating tension and violence,” Stevens said in a statement.
“We must stand up to Donald Trump’s chaos and destruction, which is why I am introducing this legislation to limit his powers and make sure he cannot deploy troops on U.S. soil for his political gain. We are a nation of laws and it’s about time the President begins to follow them.”
According to Stevens’s office, the legislation would add the language into the Insurrection Act of 1807 and only apply to duties connected to peaceful demonstrations.
Trump faced fierce backlash from Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over his move to deploy troops to Los Angeles.
The California governor has maintained that the president’s move to federalize soldiers without consulting him was illegal and asked the courts for an emergency order to block the deployment.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee, initially ruled in California’s favor, but the emergency injunction was overturned by the 9th Circuit on June 13. The three-judge panel then unanimously extended its pause in an unsigned, 38-page decision released Thursday night.
“We emphasize, however, that our decision addresses only the facts before us. And although we hold that the President likely has authority to federalize the National Guard, nothing in our decision addresses the nature of the activities in which the federalized National Guard may engage,” the appeals panel wrote.
Trump called the ruling a “big win” on Friday, while Newsom said in a post on X that “the fight doesn’t end here.”