What It Took for George H.W. Bush to Invoke the Insurrection Act |
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Last week, tensions escalated in Minneapolis following two fatal shootings by federal immigration agents. President Trump has spoken about invoking the Insurrection Act and MAGA architect Steven Bannon recently called on him to do so in response to the situation in Minnesota. This act, a combination of laws passed largely in the 19th century, would allow the president to send military forces into the cities and override the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which generally prohibits federal troops from being involved in domestic law enforcement operations.
Under the law, the Insurrection Act can be invoked in a number of circumstances. According to a report from the Brennan Center, Section 251 allows the president to send in troops if the state legislature or governor requests federal assistance during an insurrection. Sections 252 and 253 empower the president to act regardless of the wishes of state officials. In particular, Section 253 allows the president to use troops to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” that obstructs the enforcement of laws or when state authorities can’t or won’t protect constitutional rights.
Last week, tensions escalated in Minneapolis following two fatal shootings by federal immigration agents. President Trump has spoken about invoking the Insurrection Act and MAGA architect Steven Bannon recently called on him to do so in response to the situation in Minnesota. This act, a combination of laws passed largely in the 19th century, would allow the president to send military forces into the cities and override the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which generally prohibits federal troops from being involved in domestic law enforcement operations.
Under the law, the Insurrection Act can be invoked in a number of circumstances. According to a report from the Brennan Center, Section 251 allows the president to send in troops if the state legislature or governor requests federal assistance during an insurrection. Sections 252 and 253 empower the president to act regardless of the wishes of state officials. In particular, Section 253 allows the president to use troops to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” that obstructs the enforcement of laws or when state authorities can’t or won’t protect constitutional rights.
When asked about this authority, Trump often notes that half of U.S. presidents have used it. “Fifty percent of the presidents, almost, have used (the Insurrection Act). And that’s unquestioned power,” Trump said in an interview on Oct. 19, 2025.
That is not true. Most presidents have not used the Insurrection Act. In fact, most have been extraordinarily reluctant to do so, even in circumstances far more dire than what is occurring in places such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and Portland, Maine. During the 1950s and 1960s, presidents invoked the Insurrection Act only in a handful of critical civil rights confrontations, most notably to enforce court-ordered school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957; at the University of Mississippi in 1962; and in Detroit, Michigan, in........