Lawfare Daily: The Military, Elections, and the Law
7/8/202651 min
Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes talks with Executive Editor Natalie Orpett and Senior Editors Loren Voss and Molly Roberts about the limits the Constitution and statutes put on the use of military in U.S. elections—as well as the arguments an eager executive might make to skirt those restrictions. They discuss how the history of domestic deployment law shows that legislators have long believed voting deserves special protection from military involvement. They also explain why, ahead of the 2026 midterms, that isn't as reassuring as it might sound.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNatalie Orpet· Panelist0:00
[upbeat music] This law has been on the books since 1865, and Congress has only made it stronger and more restrictive of military involvement in elections over the course of time. It has never gone away. It has never been questioned. And so it really reflects a significant value of Congress that has stayed constant.
Benjamin Wittes· Host0:24
It's the Lawfare Podcast. I'm Benjamin Wittes, editor-in-chief of Lawfare, with Lawfare executive editor, Natalie Orpet, and senior editors Molly Roberts and Lauren Voss.
Molly Roberts· Panelist0:39
So if there was an attack underway, an attack occurred in some way, there's an inherent constitutional power to respond to that, and the argument would be, "Okay. Yes, there's statutory limitations on specific things, but this is an inherent constitutional power because I must take action to protect America."
Benjamin Wittes· Host0:57
Today we're talking troops at the polls. Can the president deploy them? What can he do with them? What kind of mischief can they make? And what laws restrict the president's power to make you show your ID to a guy with a gun? All right, Molly, I want to start with you. Why on earth would we be writing about and talking about the rather