Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin spent four minutes during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday hounding a Department of Defense (DOD) official about so-called illegal orders.
Slotkin, who told military members in a video to defy President Donald Trump’s so-called illegal orders, on whether Trump is deploying the National Guard lawfully by going against the wishes of a sitting governor. While she asked DOD Principal Deputy General Counsel Charles Young about a hypothetical of Trump ordering the National Guard to be present at polling places, Young stated that there are federal laws against such actions and that it would depend on the status of the personnel.
“But for these [National Guardsmen] who are deployed against the wishes of the sitting governor and the people of that state, you said that the troops are there to protect federal personnel, functions, and property, right? So people or functions or buildings. If you were asked to approve the placement of uniformed military on and around polling locations for a federal election in 2026, what would your legal judgment be of whether those uniforms could do that?”
“Senator, again, that’s a hypothetical situation. There are federal laws that prohibit the stationing of troops at polling places. However, the question would be whether or not the degree to which that would apply in a non-federalized status under Title 32, and it would depend on the status of the personnel and the mission parameters that are being contemplated,” Young answered.
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Slotkin asked if there is any situation in which Young would approve deploying uniformed military to be present at polling places in Chicago, Illinois. Young answered that this happened during the COVID-19 pandemic when many poll workers were unavailable.
“I understand during COVID, but you can understand that when there’s a trust deficit, right?” Slotkin continued. “When the president of the United States says we have to go after the enemy within and that if he loses an election, it’s because it was rigged, his words, that the idea that we put uniform military surrounding polling locations, for you to not understand what that means to the American public, the playbook of authoritarianism that I’ve seen as a CIA officer play out over and over and over again in other countries, for you not to understand that that sends a shiver down the spine of every American and should, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, that’s why there’s a trust deficit, is because there are some circumstances in which you would use the military in the middle of our democracy like that.”
“And I continue to believe it’s not our uniform military that have a problem, it’s the leaders who are directing them and these missions,” the senator continued.
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Slotkin and five other Democratic senators participated in a video where they explicitly urged service members to defy any illegal order in order to be faithful to the Constitution. Despite her focus on illegal orders, Slotkin could not name a single unlawful order from Trump during a Nov. 23 segment on “This Week.”
“Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders,” Slotkin said along with Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Deluzio.
Trump urged the Supreme Court to allow him to deploy the National Guard to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and Memphis. In Washington, D.C., Trump invoked Section 740 of The Home Rule Act in August which allowed him to deploy the National Guard and to direct the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for federal purposes during emergency situations.
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