The Insurrection Act is One of at Least 26 Legal Loopholes in the Law Banning the Use of the US Military Domestically

Federal agents on the roof of the ICE facility in Portland, OR. Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

As protesters and federal law enforcement clashed in Minneapolis in the wake of a second shooting of a civilian on Jan. 14, 2026 by federal agents, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to send troops to Minnesota in response to protests.

This is not the first time Trump has invoked the act.

Is Trump’s warning just bluster? Does the president have the...