In Response to President Trump’s Overreach, Welch Supports Blumenthal’s Push to Reform the Insurrection Act

Oct 22, 2025
Senate Republicans block resolution to prohibit Trump Administration from weaponizing U.S. military against American citizens
WASHINGTON, D.C.–U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.)spoke in support of legislation led by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to reform and right-size theInsurrection Act,an emergency, near-wartime authority measure President Trump hasexpressed interestin invoking in order to use the U.S. military to harass American citizens attending peaceful protests.In his remarks, Senator Welch demanded reforms to limit current and future administrations from abusing theInsurrection Actand deploying U.S. troops to police Americans exercising their right to free speech. The resolution was blocked by Senate Republicans.
The newInsurrection Act of 2025would reform centuries-old legislation that gives the President broad and vague authority to deploy troops—either with or without the request of a state—to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.” No President has invoked theInsurrection Actto activate troops without the invitation of a governor in over 50 years, given the potential for the military to escalate tensions, rather than restore order, during a domestic crisis.
“Essentially, this President—from day one—has been overreaching the use of executive authority and declarations of emergencies. And it’s everything from tariffs—where Article I gives Congress the authority to pass those or invoke those, not the President—and now to the use of the National Guard as a private police force that basically serves the will of the President and for political purposes. It is extraordinary, in our country, to have the National Guard deployed. It is even more extraordinary to have the military deployed. There are circumstances where that can be done, but not at the whim of an Executive who does it for political reasons,”said Senator Welch.
“The importance of the Senator’s bill is that this Congress act to set definitions on what so-called ‘emergencies’ are and not leave it up to an Executive who has demonstrated, repeatedly, that he will overreach—he has, and he will.”
Watch Senator Welch’s speechbelow:
Read a key excerpt from Senator Welch’s remarks:
“What you’re seeing is an act of political will for a political purpose—not for a public safety purpose…And make no mistake, there’s no limits to what this President will do. He starts in L.A., goes to Portland, he wants to go to Baltimore. And then, for the purpose of putting down what he claims is ‘lawless behavior’—but upon review by local judges who have the evidence, find that it’s nothing out of the ordinary that the local jurisdiction and law enforcement forces can’t handle—what’s next? Will we see military deployed to cities where the President does not like the outcome of the vote in the next election? That’s a fair question.”
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The newInsurrection Act of 2025would:
In addition to Sens. Welch and Blumenthal, theInsurrection Act of 2025is cosponsored by Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
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