House Dem Asks General For Assurances If Trump Deploys Troops To Polling Places

Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) asked the man in charge of the National Guard for assurances if President Donald Trump were to deploy troops to polling places for the midterm elections.

Gen. Steven Nordhaus appeared before a budget hearing with the House Appropriations Committee Friday, when Morelle asked about the possibility that he said has caused “anxiety around the country.”

“I serve two responsibilities here, the intersection of both which come together around the question I want to ask you,” Morelle began. “I serve not only on Appropriation but as the ranking member on the Committee on House Administration, which has responsibility for federal elections.”

“The president raised eyebrows a couple months ago when he said he regretted not deploying the National Guard during the 2020 election,” Morelle continued. “As you can imagine, that has caused considerable anxiety around the country — millions of Americans concerned about the potential deployment of military personnel at election centers or at precincts throughout the country in the midterm elections.”

“What assurances can you give not only to me but the millions of Americans who have those concerns about deployment of National Guard at polling places?” Morelle asked.

“Congressman, the National Guard obviously always follows Constitution, law, policy, guidance, both at the federal and state level,” Nordhaus said, continuing:

Now, the National Guard has been utilized by governors, really back in the 2020 and 2022 timeframe, due to Covid-19. And it was due to a lack of volunteers. And so, guardsmen had in multiple states done things in administration, logistics, cyber — but they were always in civilian clothes, to my knowledge, and they were always in support, so those state polling stations could execute, and our citizens could vote as normal. And so, as we go forward, you know that the National Guard is always going to follow the law, the Constitution, and all policy, and guidance, and we are there to increase public trust and make sure that our citizens have the ability to do their duty of voting.

“Good, well, I appreciate that,” Morelle said, “and I would love to stay in touch with you if anything untoward seems to be happening or any concerns are raised by people that they see warning signs that would suggest some nontraditional participation by the Guard in our national election.”

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

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