Checking the Legal Precedents, Twice at Least

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Checking the Legal Precedents, Twice at Least: Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia has asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to explore the “legal framework governing a President’s power to use the regular armed forces to restore public order” in situations like the “large-scale, protracted emergency” created by Hurricane Katrina or something other than a natural disaster. Warner, who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, says Congress will be doing the same. In Warner’s view, the “only entity in the United States that has the personnel, equipment, training, and logistical capacity to lend support to the National Guard and other state entities in an emergency of this scale is the Department of Defense.”

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org