President Trump Has Given Himself Permission to Use the Insurrection Act of 1807 if Necessary — What Is It?

It's almost impossible to keep up with President Donald Trump's second term. From the mass firings within the federal government to the bizarre announcements about plans to take over Greenland, who can possibly absorb everything going on? Perhaps one of the more overwhelming tactics being used this time around is the near-constant release of executive orders. If you're interested, they have their own little section on the White House website.

There is important information to be found inside some of these executive orders. On his first day as President, Trump signed an executive order declaring a state of national emergency at the southern border. Buried in that particular missive was a line about the president invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807. What is that, and should we be worried?

The language of the executive order states, "Within 90 days of the date of this proclamation, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a joint report to the President about the conditions at the southern border of the United States and any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807."

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the Insurrection Act of 1807 is actually an "amalgamation of different statutes enacted by Congress between 1792 and 1871." This gives the President of the United States the ability to deploy the military domestically, against American citizens, in certain situations. While this sounds like martial law, the difference is that the military is "assisting" citizens as opposed to acting in place of the local government in order to enforce laws.

Newsweek reported that when President Trump was halfway through his first 90 days, around March 8, 2025, his top national security officials were preparing a report on the southern border. It's unclear where this report stands after the president fired several national security officials a month later, per the BBC. President Trump's second term will reach the 90-day mark on April 20.

Historically, the Insurrection Act of 1807 has only been invoked a handful of times, the most recent of which was when former President George H.W. Bush used it to control the Los Angeles riots of 1992.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower had federal troops escort Black students into Little Rock Central High School after the Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus refused to follow federal desegregation laws. A decade later, President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized the use of federal troops during the 1967 Detroit riot.