ARLINGTON, Va. — The United States military is committed to a "calm, orderly, and professional" transfer of power next January from President Joe Biden to President-elect Donald Trump.
That's the bottom line of a "memorandum to the force" from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
He wrote: "As it always has, the U.S. military will stand ready to carry out the policy choices of its next Commander in Chief, and to obey all lawful orders from its civilian chain of command."
"He also reaffirmed that the U.S. military will, quote, 'continue to stand apart from the political arena to stand guard over our Republic, with principle and professionalism and to stand together with the valued allies and partners who deepen our security, 'end quote," said Sabrina Singh, Defense Department Deputy Press Secretary, during a news conference Thursday at the Pentagon.
During the campaign, Trump suggested the military could be deployed against citizens who oppose him.
Singh said she would not "speak to hypotheticals" and maintained the military is "apolitical."
While the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act largely prohibits active-duty troops from carrying out law enforcement duties inside the United States, the Insurrection Act of 1807 can be used by the president to call on American troops if there’s been “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination or conspiracy” in a state that “opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”