Expanding National Guard Policing Powers Threatens U.S. Democracy and Security
August 27, 2025
Washington, DC, August 27, 2025, National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A), a bipartisan coalition of retired senior military officers, ambassadors, and national security officials, today announced its opposition to President Trump’s new Executive Order granting the National Guard sweeping authority to perform domestic law enforcement duties, calling them “ineffective, wasteful, and dangerous.”
This action represents a perilous escalation in the politicization of America’s armed forces. For over two centuries, the United States has maintained a distinct separation between civilian policing and the military. By directing the Guard to assume routine law enforcement responsibilities, the administration is eroding one of the bedrock principles of our democracy: that military power must never be used as a tool of domestic control.
“The President’s order blurs critical boundaries, forces Guardsmen and women into missions they are not trained for, and weakens public trust in the Guard.,said NSL4A member and former Acting Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau, retired Major General Randy Manner. “This is not only a misuse of our men and women in uniform, it is a direct threat to the constitutional framework that protects Americans’ freedoms.”
NSL4A emphasized that the Guard is already stretched thin with overseas deployments, disaster response, and homeland defense missions. Using it for day-to-day policing will degrade readiness for true crises while wasting taxpayer dollars on politically motivated deployments that are unlikely to curb violent crime. The order disregards long-standing legal safeguards, including the spirit of the Posse Comitatus Act, which was designed to prevent military involvement in civilian law enforcement.
NSL4A calls on Congress, governors, and the Administration to act immediately to halt the misuse of the National Guard as a domestic police force. Any deployment must remain strictly within the bounds of U.S. law, including the constraints of the Posse Comitatus Act, which has safeguarded Americans from military involvement in civilian affairs for nearly 150 years. Absent a credible, data-driven threat assessment and statutory authorization, such use of the Guard is illegitimate and dangerous.
“The President’s authority to activate the Guard in extraordinary circumstances is not a blank check to cash in for political whims,” said NSL4A member, former Illinois Congressman, and former Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard, retired Major General Bill Enyart. “Any deployment of the Guard must be justified, time-limited, coordinated with local leadership, and subject to rigorous congressional oversight. Anything less risks turning America’s military into a domestic political weapon. Our democracy and the safety of our communities depend on it.”
National Security Leaders for America members are available to discuss this issue with the media.
