If Trump loses but refuses to leave the White House, what will the military do?
President Trump’s reaction to the vote count has raised new questions about whether he will cede the White House if he loses the election. But it’s not up to him.
The 20th Amendment states that the power of the presidency, and with it command of the armed forces, will transfer to the president-elect on Jan. 20.
Both current and retired uniformed and civilian defense officials are stressing that the military has no role in that power transfer and will not intervene.
“We believe in civilian control of the military and we respect our elected and appointed civilian leaders,” said retired Gen. George Casey, who served as Army Chief of Staff during the transition from former President George W. Bush to then-president elect Barack Obama after the 2008 election.
The country’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, has said bluntly that the military would have no role in the matter. Milley’s office referred queries on the transition of power to a recent NPR interview.
“This isn’t the first time that someone has suggested that there might be a contested election,” Milley told NPR. “And if there is, it’ll be handled appropriately by the courts and by the U.S. Congress. There’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election. Zero. There is no role there.”
Former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she agreed with Milley that there was no role for the active duty military in this circumstance.
“Should there be unrest, or something like that at the local level, our National Guard is called out by governors,” but not the active duty military, James said. “We obviously don’t want to see violence at any level, anywhere, and I also believe when all is said and done this will be a peaceful transition.”
The question of whether or not this transition of power will be peaceful is worrisome, especially in light of previous transitions, even in contentious elections, where ultimately both parties put country first, Casey said.
“From a military perspective, [in 2008] it was a transition during war. And both presidents and staffs worked very hard to ensure there was a smooth handoff,” Casey said.
This isn’t the first time a contentious transfer of power has raised questions about the military’s role or where its loyalties may lie.
“Back when [President Richard] Nixon was having his problems, [Defense Secretary] Jim Schlesinger told the military ‘if you get any direct orders from the White House you tell me. Don’t do anything until you tell me,’” said Larry Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former assistant secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan.
“People said it was technically illegal, but it worked,” Korb said, referring to Schlesinger going around the chain of command and undercutting the president.
Deborah Pearlstein, a professor of constitutional law and co-director of the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy at Cardozo Law School said that if Democratic nominee former Vice President Joe Biden is elected, after noon on Jan. 20, it will be up to him to decide which law enforcement branch, such as the U.S. Marshals or Secret Service, he would direct to get Trump to vacate the White House.
“If Donald Trump is still sitting in the Oval Office it will be up to Joe Biden to decide which is the relevant federal forces he would select to use,” Pearlstein said.
Pearlstein said while that could include use of the military, “there are multiple lawful choices. Using the military is one of the least clearly lawful options he has and one of the most politically fraught.”
On Friday, Biden’s rapid response director Andrew Bates also suggested the campaign was ready to deal with the possibility that Trump would not leave if he lost.
“The United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House,” Bates told McClatchy.
Pearlstein said in that situation, the Secret Service would likely be the preferred agency because it is already responsible for providing protection for former presidents and due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“If he is refusing physically to leave, I imagine his supporters are also involved in the streets and elsewhere,” she said. “It’s something the new president would want to handle very carefully.”
The Secret Service in a statement said it could not comment on any plans it has regarding the transition of power.
“For operational security reasons, the Secret Service cannot discuss specifically or in general terms the means, methods or resources we utilize to carry out our protective mission,” the agency said in a statement.
McClatchy White House correspondents Francesca Chambers and Michael Wilner contributed reporting.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 11:02 AM with the headline "If Trump loses but refuses to leave the White House, what will the military do?."
