1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I’m a constituent writing to express serious concern about the President’s recent deployment of federally controlled National Guard troops into U.S. cities, most recently Portland, Oregon. There is no publicly documented emergency—no insurrection and no breakdown of local law enforcement—justifying military involvement in routine domestic policing. In fact, a federal court recently ruled that the administration’s deployment of military forces in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act. The current Portland call-up similarly appears to expand military roles in civilian contexts without a lawful basis or a request from state authorities. This pattern looks less like public safety and more like an attempt to normalize military presence in civilian life, concentrate authority in the executive, and chill dissent. It’s an authoritarian drift that Congress must check—swiftly and publicly. I respectfully urge you to: 1. Publicly oppose further domestic troop deployments absent a clear statutory basis and formal requests from state authorities. 2. Demand immediate oversight: convene hearings with DoD, DHS, and DOJ on the legal authorities invoked, ROE (rules of engagement), mission scope, and safeguards against military involvement in civilian law enforcement. 3. Back legislative guardrails: Clarify and tighten the Posse Comitatus Act and related statutes to bar military participation in policing, surveillance, detention, or crowd control, except under narrow, reviewable circumstances. 4. Require pre-deployment notifications to Congress and affected governors/mayors, plus rapid public reporting on legal authority, mission objectives, and metrics. 5. Condition appropriations to prohibit federalization of state National Guard units for domestic policing absent a governor’s request or a genuine, reviewable emergency. 6. Support judicial remedies: file or support congressional amicus briefs in ongoing litigation challenging unlawful deployments. 7. Protect civil liberties: prohibit the use of military forces for crowd control, protest monitoring, or immigration-related street patrols in U.S. cities. Please let me know the specific steps your office will take within the next few days. Many of us are watching to ensure our representatives uphold the Constitution’s limits on military involvement in domestic life. Thank you for your prompt attention.