In oral argument before the D.C. Circuit, attorneys Loren Voss and Natalie Orpett contended that 18 U.S.C. §592—which bars troops and armed men from places where elections are held unless necessary to repel armed enemies—still applies even where the Insurrection Act might otherwise authorize domestic military force. They pointed to statutory text, canons of construction, and legislative history to argue that Congress intended the ban to constrain the president and protect election integrity from voter intimidation.
The case is part of Judge Boasberg's inquiry into whether senior Trump administration officials committed criminal contempt when 137 Venezuelans were sent to CECOT, the El Salvador prison. The broader legal landscape also includes the Supreme Court clearing the way, for the third time, for the administration to resume deporting migrants to third countries, as well as litigation over White House press bans and canceled foreign aid funds.
Separately, Lawfare writers warned that Suncor v. Boulder County, a preemption case over local and state climate deception suits against fossil fuel companies, could let the Court erode vertical federalism. The source also noted a UN report finding that U.S. airstrikes in Iran constituted war crimes, with analysis suggesting a shift toward "lethality over legality" contributed to the failures.