Insurrection Act (and Title 10 federalization)

The Insurrection Act is a group of statutes, enacted across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and now codified in Chapter 13 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, that authorize the president to deploy the military or federalized National Guard within the United States to suppress insurrection, domestic violence, or obstruction of federal law, in some cases over a governor’s objection. It is distinct from 10 U.S.C. section 12406, a separate and narrower 1903 authority that lets the president call National Guard units into federal service to repel invasion, suppress rebellion, or execute the laws. In June 2025, Donald Trump federalized California National Guard troops and deployed them in Los Angeles over the governor’s objection, relying on Section 12406 rather than invoking the Insurrection Act; a federal court later found the deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act.