US Constitution, Article 4, Section 4: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government"

Mr. Trump and his administration made clear the intent to wage war on states and city governments:

  • President Trump to the Generals and Admirals, Sept 30, 2025: "The Democrats run most of the cities that are in bad shape... It seems that the ones that are run by the radical left Democrats, what they have done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places, and we're going to straighten them out one by one, and this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That's a war too. Its a war from within... we should use some these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard, but military. Because we're going into Chicago very soon. That's a big city with an incompetent governor, stupid governor, stupid."
  • Department of Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem: "We will continue to sustain and increase our operations in this city. We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor (Newsom) and this mayor (Bass) have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert in this city."

Mr. Trump calling the California National Guard into Federal service against the wishes of the State of California is unconstitutional, as noted in:

  • The National Guard is under the command first and foremost of the state. Article 1, Section 8: "reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers" so the National Guard will respond first to state orders.

  • The Framers mandated that state officials swear an oath to defend the Constitution against Federal violation. Article 6: "Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution;"Hamilton explains these clauses in Federalist #28:

“Power being almost always the rival of power, the general government will at all times stand ready to check the usurpations of the state governments, and these will have the same disposition towards the general government. The people, by throwing themselves into either scale, will infallibly make it preponderate. If their rights are invaded by either, they can make use of the other as the instrument of redress. How wise will it be in them by cherishing the union to preserve to themselves an advantage which can never be too highly prized!”

The Constitution is an enumerated powers document. It limits the Federal taxing and coercing powers to:

  • War: "to provide for the common defence."
  • Crimes: Congress is empowered to prosecute 4 as defined in Article 1, Section 8:
    • Treason
    • Counterfeiting
    • Piracies
    • Offences against the Law of Nations (such as threatening allies with military force)

Crimes added/removed:

  • Runaway slaves was removed as a federally enforceable crime by the 13th Amendment.
  • Selling a beer was made a crime by the 18th Amendment and then repealed by the 21st Amendment.

Crimes unconstitutionally prosecuted by the Federal government:

  • War on Drugs. The 21st Amendment repealed such authority.
  • Commerce between Americans. Example: Filburn

States may combine and fund Federal programs where the general government might be more effective. But this must come from states providing the tax funds and constraining the federal programs as meets the Constitutions of the States involved.