President-elect Trump has talked about using the military on the “enemy from within,” at the border and potentially even in Mexico against cartels.

The rhetoric has sparked increasing worry among Democrats on Capitol Hill as Trump heads toward his second term. Republicans, however, largely downplayed the concerns during interviews this week.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was concerned about troops being deployed in the U.S., particularly after the selection of Pete Hegseth, a Fox News personality and veteran with far-right views, as the new Defense secretary.

“A lot of people who have worked in the Pentagon or worked in the military have, over the course of their career, clearly expressed their firm commitment to the fact that domestic law enforcement isn't something the military should be doing,” he said. “It is one of many concerns.”

But Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), also an Armed Services Committee member, deflected the concerns, like several Republicans approached by The Hill.

“I think a lot of these ideas are not very far advanced to be able to discuss with a lot of specificity,” he said.

During the campaign, Trump explicitly floated using the military on protesters or against enemies in the “radical left,” to assist with mass deportations of illegal immigrants and wage a war against cartels in Mexico.

Trump’s first term in office saw him stymied at times by senior military and Defense Department officials, but in a second stint in office, his opponents fear Trump will install absolute loyalists willing to act on his impulses.

Notably, Trump was stopped from potentially misusing the military in 2020 by former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who Trump fired in November of that year. Esper broke with Trump over invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops against protesters in the wake of the death of Georgy Floyd.

In a second term, critics worry Trump will also have much more leeway after the Supreme Court this year ruled the president cannot........

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