Pentagon Officials Weigh Responses To Possible Illegal Orders Under Trump

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for the second time, Pentagon officials are reportedly strategizing their response to potential controversial orders, including the domestic deployment of active-duty troops.

What Happened: Pentagon officials are informally discussing how the Department of Defense would react if Trump orders the deployment of active-duty troops within the U.S. and dismisses large numbers of nonpartisan staffers.

Trump has previously shown willingness to use active-duty forces for domestic law enforcement and mass deportations.

According to the report by CNN, he has also signaled his intent to populate the federal government with loyalists and remove what he views as “corrupt actors” in the U.S. national security establishment.

In his previous term, Trump’s relationship with senior military leadership was tense, particularly with now-retired Gen. Mark Milley, who took steps to restrict Trump’s ability to use nuclear weapons while serving as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Defense officials are now bracing for a potential overhaul of the Pentagon, with one official stating, “We are all preparing and planning for the worst-case scenario, but the reality is that we don’t know how this is going to play out yet.”

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Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly called US military generals "woke," "weak" and "ineffective leaders."

According to the outlet, a former senior Defense Department official from the Trump administration indicated that it’s likely more active-duty forces will be assigned to support Customs and Border Protection at the southern border.

An Army official shared with CNN that a Trump administration might consider deploying several thousand more troops to assist with the border mission.

However, they cautioned that such a decision could potentially weaken the military’s preparedness for handling international threats.

Why It Matters: Trump’s election has sparked concerns within the Pentagon about the potential issuance of unlawful orders, especially if his political appointees within the department do not resist.

“Troops are compelled by law to disobey unlawful orders,” one defense official noted, adding that the question remains what would happen if such an order were issued.

It is still uncertain who Trump will choose to lead the Pentagon, but officials believe Trump and his team will aim to avoid the kind of “hostile” relationship he had with the military during his previous administration.

Defense officials are also identifying civilian employees who could be impacted if Trump reinstates Schedule F, an executive order he first issued in 2020 that would have reclassified large numbers of nonpolitical, career federal employees across the U.S. government, making them more easily dismissible.

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This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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