Duckworth Calls Out Trump’s Dangerous and Unconstitutional Abuse of the Military to Police American Cities

Duckworth Calls Out Trump's Dangerous and Unconstitutional Abuse of the Military to Police American Cities

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - After Donald Trump effectively declared war against the city of Chicago, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)-a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)-called out this dangerous, wasteful and unconstitutional abuse of the military against American cities. During Duckworth's questioning at General Christopher J. Mahoney's confirmation hearing to serve as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mahoney agreed that it wasn't appropriate for troops to police their fellow Americans. Not only did Duckworth underscore that abusing our military this way was wholly unconstitutional, but that it is also a waste of resources and distracts our servicemembers from their core mission of keeping Americans safe from adversaries who wish us harm. Duckworth's full remarks can be found on the Senator's YouTube.

"Our servicemembers did not sign up for Donald Trump's war against Chicago-nor did they volunteer to intimidate and police their fellow Americans in cities across the country," said Duckworth. "The separation of our military and civilian police is foundational to our Constitution-which all of our servicemembers, including General Mahoney and I, swore to defend. At the end of the day, it is appalling that Trump is putting military leaders in these terrible positions where they have to answer for his tyrannical ego trips. There will be a price-and it will be paid for by our troops and the American people."

At every turn, Duckworth has forcefully pushed back against Donald Trump's abuse of our nation's servicemembers and his attempts to blur the lines between law enforcement and the military-from Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and most recently Chicago. This week, Duckworth joined her colleagues in filing an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the lawsuit brought against Trump after he deployed thousands of members of the California National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps to Los Angeles without legal justification or approval from state or local officials. She also joined U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) in sending a letter to Attorney General Bondi, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Noem, Department of Defense Secretary Hegseth and FBI Director Patel requesting immediate information regarding President Trump's imminent actions to send the military and increase federal law enforcement presence in Chicago.

Recently, Duckworth-along with Durbin and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10)-visited Naval Station Great Lakes after requesting a meeting to discuss President Trump's plans to support U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers and his threats to deploy the military to Chicago. The lawmakers were locked out of the office space that DHS intends to use after requesting entry.

Duckworth also joined Durbin, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) and members of the Illinois delegation in sending a letter demand that President Donald Trump and the Pentagon suspend plans for the deployment of military personnel to Chicago.

In the wake of Trump's deployment of Marines and National Guard to California, Duckworth introduced the Military in Law Enforcement Accountability Act to reform gray areas in laws that Trump is exploiting to deploy members of our military to police their fellow Americans, diverting taxpayer dollars and attention away from the military's core mission and undermining the Administration's own stated goal to focus our military on warfighting.

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