Senators seek details on 23,000-strong National Guard riot force

Two Democratic senators with military and national security backgrounds, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, have asked the Department of War and the National Guard Bureau to explain who commands the National Guard’s new “quick reaction forces,” under what legal authority they would deploy inside the United States, and whether they have been prepared for use around elections, setting an Oct. 28 deadline for answers one week before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

In a letter announced on Oct. 26, the senators said President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the Pentagon to make Guard troops available nationwide to help law enforcement with civil disturbances and public safety, and to stand up a force able to deploy rapidly anywhere in the country, leaves the most important legal question unanswered.

“The memo provides no clarity on whether this force would operate under state or federal authorities, or whether they operate under a dual-status commander. The distinction is critical and legally consequential to preventing the National Guard from being used to abuse the constitutional or civil rights of Americans or to circumvent existing legal limitations,” wrote Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly.

The distinction matters because Guard troops serving under a governor’s control can perform law enforcement duties, while troops called into federal service are generally barred by the Posse Comitatus Act from policing American civilians unless the president invokes a legal exception such as the Insurrection Act. A dual-status commander is a single officer who can lead both state and federal troops during the same operation.

The forces trace back to an executive order Trump signed on Aug. 25, 2025, as part of his declared crime emergency in Washington, which directed the Pentagon to create Guard units “available for rapid nationwide deployment.” National Guard Bureau memos signed that October by Maj. Gen. Ronald Burkett, the Guard’s director of operations, ordered every state and territory to form a quick reaction force, typically of 500 troops each and more than 23,000 nationwide, The Associated Press reported at the time, with a quarter of each force ready to move within eight hours and the rest within a day. The units were to be operational by Jan. 1, 2026, and the troops received extra training in crowd control and nonlethal weapons, including batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, Task & Purpose reported, with each state receiving 100 sets of crowd control equipment from the Guard Bureau.

When the memos became public, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declined to discuss their particulars but said the country has “multiple layers of National Guard response forces” that can be used under federal and state authorities.

The senators also asked about a second unit, the National Guard Response Force, and pressed the Pentagon on how many troops are assigned to each force, where they are based and who commands them, what would trigger a mobilization and how governors would request or activate the troops, how the forces are funded, and what notice Congress would receive before or after any domestic deployment. They also asked whether there are plans to detail Guard troops to support the Department of Homeland Security or the Justice Department in law enforcement roles within the next 100 days.

Elections are the central concern of the letter. The senators asked whether the Pentagon or the Guard has considered using the forces to respond to an election-related civil disturbance and requested all training materials that reference elections. Federal law prohibits stationing troops at polling places unless it is necessary “to repel armed enemies of the United States,” with violations punishable by up to five years in prison.

“This administration must make clear that our troops will not be used to interfere with Americans’ lives or to meet some political end. The use of military personnel in connection with elections raises additional legal concerns, including the risk of violating federal restrictions on troops at polling places, interference with election officials, and voter intimidation,” wrote Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly.

The letter noted that Mark Ditlevson, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary for homeland defense, and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have acknowledged that risk in responses to Congress, and that the department has repeatedly confirmed that no election threat exists that would require federal forces to secure polling places. In April, Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the Guard “always follows the Constitution, law, policy and guidance” when asked about troops at the polls, Florida Phoenix reported.

The administration has defended its use of the Guard at home as a response to crime and threats to federal personnel and property. Trump deployed Guard troops to several Democratic-led cities in 2025, in some cases federalizing them over governors’ objections, before withdrawing them after the Supreme Court left in place a lower-court ruling that blocked a deployment in Chicago. Nearly 2,500 Guard members remained deployed in Washington as of April.

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official, and Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former astronaut, both serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and both appeared in a 2025 video urging troops to refuse illegal orders that drew an administration investigation.

“The future of our democracy and the prosperity of the Americans we all serve depends on maintaining our military’s nonpartisan tradition,” wrote Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly.