Nothing in law prevents the President from employing the military in a Katrina-like emergency if state and local government really breaks down. In fact, the 130-year-old Posse Comitatus Act more symbolizes the military's subordination to civil authority than it actually restricts what the
military can do. More . . .
Bush, speaking on the aftermath of Katrina:
It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces . . . --G.W. Bush, New Orleans, 9/15/05, full transcript here.
Yet, Bush already had (not just) all the federal authority he needed, but a responsibility that he and DHS Secretary Chertoff neglected, under the national response plan. Perhaps Tommy Franks may have known more than he told when he suggested Bush might suspend the U.S. constitution.
Maybe Bush wasn't joking:
If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier...just as long as I'm the dictator..."--G.W. Bush, Washington, DC, Dec 18, 2000, during his first trip to Washington as President-Elect
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