Amid ongoing speculation that President Donald Trump may invoke the Insurrection Act, Vice President JD Vance told NBC News' Kristen Welker on Meet the Press on Sunday that the president is weighing "all of his options," with regards to enforcement measures and the law that lets presidents deploy military forces to restore order or enforce federal law.
The president has authorized the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops to Chicago, which has been in the spotlight since the administration ramped up immigration enforcement efforts there as part of Operation Midway Blitz. On Saturday, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois.
Trump has said he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act if courts block his efforts to deploy troops in U.S. cities. The Act would grant the president the power to use the military to put down a rebellion at the federal or state level.
Critics say using the 1807 law would consolidate federal power and give Trump more leeway to use the military for domestic law enforcement or immigration enforcement.
After speaking about the Israel-Hamas peace plan and the ongoing government shutdown, Vance and Welker turned to the Trump administration's domestic deployment of National Guard troops.
Welker asked the vice president if the administration is "seriously considering invoking the Insurrection Act?"
Vance replied: "The president's looking at all of his options. Right now, he hasn't felt he needed to," adding, "But we have to remember why we are talking about this, Kristen. Because crime has gotten out of control in our cities. Because our ICE agents, the people who are enforcing our immigration laws have faced a 1,000 percent increase in violent attacks against them."
In a September 22 press release, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that "ICE officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them, including vehicles being used as weapons towards them, and doxing campaigns targeting federal officers and their families."
Vance continued: "The problem here is not the Insurrection Act or whether we actually invoke it or not. The problem is the fact that the entire media in this country, cheered on by a few far-left lunatics, have made it OK to tee off on American law enforcement. We cannot accept that in the United States of America."
Welker's question comes days after Trump told reporters, "I'd do it if it was necessary," regarding invoking the Insurrection Act. "So far, it hasn't been necessary. But we have an Insurrection Act for a reason. If I had to enact it, I'd do that," he said.
"If people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I'd do that," he added.
The legal battle over Trump's authority to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities has sparked a national debate about federal power, state sovereignty, and the use of military personnel in response to civil unrest. Many have taken to the streets to protest ICE and National Guard presence in their cities, while others have applauded the move.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday: "The Insurrection Act is called the Insurrection Act for a reason. There has to be a rebellion. There has to be an insurrection in order for him to be allowed to invoke it. Again, he can say anything he wants, but if the Constitution means anything, and I guess we all are questioning that right now, but the courts will make the determination. If the Constitution means anything, the Insurrection Act cannot be invoked to send them in because they want to fight crime."
President Donald Trump, in an October 4 memorandum in part: "The situation in the State of Illinois, particularly in and around the city of Chicago, cannot continue. Federal facilities in Illinois, including those directly supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Protective Services (FPS), have come under coordinated assault by violent groups intent on obstructing Federal law enforcement activities."
Democratic strategist David Axelrod wrote in a Sunday X post: "Believe them when they tell you what they're planning, folks. Trump wanted to use American troops against Americans in his first term, and was dissuaded by responsible civilian and military leaders. No more. The guardrails are gone."
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller wrote in an October 6 X post: "There is no legal distinction between a state volunteering guardsmen to guard the border and volunteering guardsmen to guard a federal immigration facility. Either we have a federal government, a supremacy clause, and a nation, or we don't."
The administration is involved in multiple pending lawsuits over its immigration and federal enforcement measures nationwide.