White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday. As you know, it has been used sparingly, but it has been used by previous presidents in American history,” Leavitt said. The Insurrection Act – first passed in 1792 and tweaked in 1871 – allows the deployment of troops within the US in certain situations. Trump previously threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and send US troops in response to anti-ICE protests in Portland last fall. The last time a president invoked the law was in 1992, when California’s governor asked President George H.W.

Source: CNN January 15, 2026 16:18 UTC