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"… Now, all the authorities, they just stand around and boast How they blackmailed the sergeant at arms into leaving his post..." (Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited)
"House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving said he was not comfortable with the 'optics' of formally declaring an emergency before the demonstration, Sund said. Meanwhile, Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger suggested that Sund informally seek his Guard contacts, asking them to 'lean forward' and be on alert in case Capitol Police needed their help." (Inquirer)
The Post-Inquirer report then gives the long drawn-out interaction between various entities tasked with assistance that ultimately rested on the Pentagon. More than anything, the report suggests the lack of authority to commit the National Guard and the process that requires the approval of getting those boots on the ground on federal property. Curiously, had the request come from a state, it might have been approved without the half-stepping and marching in place that occurred on the Day of Infamy, 2021.
What's also a mystery is why a detailed brief was posted by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) just two days prior to the siege that outlined in no uncertain terms who has/had the authority to commit forces into the battle in case of an insurrection;
"As noted in CRS Reports R42659 and RL31133, Congress has provided approximately 50 statutory authorizations to use the military forces for foreign or domestic purposes—not including formal declarations of war." (CRS)
Those include the Insurrection Act of 1807 and the War Powers Act of 1973. The second specifically states that the President is authorized to call out the Guard in a "national emergency created by an attack on the United States." The US Constitution has a more nebulous definition as to who retains the authority to act in case of an insurrection, as stated in Section 8 under the powers of Congress;
"To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;"
Thus, it seems that everyone, and no one, had the authority to execute the command that would have spared the capitol the attack, and it was without a doubt an attack on the United States, another Day of Infamy as paraphrased by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) , and spared the lives of a half-dozen citizens and police officers in the process. But as in many other cases of American history where who was involved, who incited, who pulled the trigger, how many conspirators escaped to Venezuela, from the Lincoln assassination to the Kennedy assassination, from the Bay of Pigs to Iran-Contra, the same question arises. Did the mob of 20,000 plus on the capitol grounds act alone or was it incited by the president, by his cohorts and family insiders? Was Congress complicit for failure to anticipate the attack and be ready to execute its constitutional authority to call in reinforcements? Why did the Pentagon choose to march in place? Where in the timeline report published by the Post-Inquirer article are the answers to that one serious and simple question?
Cited:
Defense Primer: Legal Authorities for the Use of Military Forces, Defense Primer: Legal Authorities for the Use of Military Forces (congress.gov)
Pontiac Rebellion image, fort.jpg (814×491) (theballreport.com)
Bob Dylan, Highway 61 album cover,
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