Stop Trump’s Abuse of Power Act

The Stop Trump’s Abuse of Power Act would amend the federal law that governs the use of the Armed Forces for domestic purposes. Specifically, it adds new restrictions on deploying active-duty, regular military forces to respond to peaceful protests within a state or territory. For peaceful protests, the President would be prohibited from sending active-duty troops unless the governor or chief executive of the state or territory requests it. The bill preserves existing authority for responding to non-peaceful or violent situations without a state request. The changes apply to sections 252 and 253 of title 10, United States Code, and are intended to shift decision-making authority over domestic military deployments toward state leaders for peaceful demonstrations. The bill’s short title is the Stop Trump’s Abuse of Power Act. It was introduced in the House on June 30, 2025, by Rep. Stevens (joined by Rep. Carbajal and Rep. Krishnamoorthi) and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. The text clarifies that the new restraint uses a “Notwithstanding” clause, meaning the peaceful-protest limitation overrides the existing broad authorities in those sections for that scenario.