White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday said the Trump administration has the legal authority to send officers to Portland and potentially other cities …
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday said the Trump administration has the legal authority to send officers to Portland and potentially other cities in response to crime and unrest. When she was pressed on whether the Constitution gives the federal government the ability to send agents to cities without the approval of their respective mayors, McEnany cited a provision of 40 U. S. Code 1315, that says the Department of Homeland Security secretary “shall protect the buildings, grounds and property that are owned, occupied, or secured by the federal government … and the persons on the property.” “When a federal courthouse is being lit on fire, commercial fireworks being shot at it, being shot at the officers, I think that falls pretty well within the limits” of the law, McEnany told reporters in a televised news conference, referring to nights of riots and violent demonstrations in Portland following the death of George Floyd in May.
