WASHINGTON, DC — Following today’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Trump administration’s unlawful deployment of the National Guard, the Not Above the Law coalition’s co-chairs – Lisa Gilbert, Co-President of Public Citizen; Praveen Fernandes, Vice President of the Constitutional Accountability Center; Kelsey Herbert, Campaign Director at MoveOn; and Brett Edkins, Managing Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Stand Up America – released the following statement:
“Today’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Trump’s National Guard deployments revealed an administration with no intention of respecting the rule of law. Courts have repeatedly struck down these deployments as unlawful, yet the hearing underscored the administration’s ongoing disregard for those rulings and for basic limits on presidential power. Senators heard only from Defense Department officials defending their actions, while the governors and mayors of Los Angeles, Chicago, and other cities where troops were deployed against local wishes were notably absent.
“While today’s hearing was an important step in congressional oversight, oversight alone cannot stop unlawful deployments. Congress must act to pass legislation that clearly restricts when and how a president can deploy the National Guard, strengthens meaningful oversight, and creates real consequences for illegal actions. Every day without decisive legislation is another day Trump can use the military as a personal and political force and treat American cities like occupied territory.”
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