Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used references to fictional provisions of the U.S. Constitution in a tirade against President Donald Trump after he ordered California National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to protect federal agents and property amid growing riots there.
“I hope the president would read Article 10 of the Constitution, and I urge all of you to do that, as well,” Pelosi said, about the 49-second mark, as Democratic lawmakers behind her all nodded in agreement. “Because section 12046 of Article 10 says that the National Guard cannot be called up by the president without the consent of the governor.”
Only, there is no “Article 10” in the Constitution; there are only seven, and they lay out the duties and responsibilities of each branch of goverment: Executive, Judicial, Legislative.
Pelosi was likely attempting to reference Title 10 of the United States Code, which contains the provisions for use of the “National Guard in Federal service.”
Having said that, however, Pelosi was also wrong in claiming that presidents don’t have the authority to federalize National Guard troops. One of the Democratic Party’s icons, civil rights-era President Lyndon B. Johnson, invoked Title 10 to federalize Alabama National Guard troops to protect civil rights protesters, per the Washington Examiner.
WATCH:
“The statute explicitly states that the president may call the Guard into federal service and that orders ‘shall be issued through the governors,’ which is an administrative process, and not a requirement of consent,” Matt Margolis wrote Wednesday at PJ Media.
“Federal law has long acknowledged the president’s right to federalize the National Guard, and the Supreme Court has affirmed the president’s right to federalize the National Guard without gubernatorial consent multiple times,” he added.
Pelosi was also caught in another falsehood. During the same tirade, she claimed that she, as then-House Speaker, “we begged the president of the United States [Trump] to send in the National Guard” ahead of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building.
“He would not do it…And yet, in a contra-constitutional way, he has sent the National Guard into California. Something is very wrong with this picture,” she added.
But then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund corrected the record, writing on the X platform: “FACT: On January 6, I was restricted by Federal Law (2US1970) from bringing in ANY federal support, including the National Guard, without first receiving permission from the Capitol Police Board, which included both Sergeants at Arms who reported to Pelosi and McConnell.”
Also, President Trump has said on several occasions that he offered to deploy the Guard ahead of his Jan. 6 speech but Pelosi and others refused the offer. That said, Trump as president then could have simply ordered the Guard to deploy.
Meanwhile, new polling shows that a majority of U.S. voters support Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles.
A survey conducted Monday by RMG Research among 1,000 registered voters found that 52% either “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of Trump’s move to send troops in response to the ongoing street protests.
And 42% said they disapprove of the deployment, and 7% remain undecided, the Daily Signal first reported.
Riots erupted in Los Angeles on Friday in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, prompting President Trump to initially deploy 2,000 National Guard troops, with an additional 2,000 sent later, along with 700 active duty Marines. The unrest continued into this week night, resulting in the arrest of over 100 rioters.
When voters were asked if they “approve or disapprove of the efforts by immigration officials … to find and arrest illegal immigrants in Los Angeles,” 57% of participants said they either strongly approve or somewhat approve, and 35% disapprove, while 9% are not sure, the outlet said.
