By Ryan Welton
Founder, Oklahoma Memo
National podcaster and former News 9 reporter Grant Hermes says the country is “closer than at any time since 1865” to seeing American troops deployed against one another on U.S. soil — a chilling prospect linked to recent White House discussions of invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807.
Hermes, host of Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes, joined Oklahoma Memo host Ryan Welton to discuss the potential federalization of Texas National Guard troops near Chicago, where judges are weighing whether federal agencies can deploy forces without state approval. He called the situation “frightening” but said Americans should be “about a seven on the freak-out scale — not a ten.”
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The Insurrection Act allows the president to send federal troops into a state that does not request them if the federal government determines laws cannot be carried out. Hermes warned that such a move would test constitutional boundaries around state sovereignty and could provoke dangerous political fallout.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt also entered the debate this week, telling The New York Times he would not have federalized Texas troops for deployment in Illinois and questioned the precedent such a decision sets. Hermes said Stitt’s stance reflects a “fundamental disagreement with the White House” and may mark his shift toward a national political profile as a more traditional conservative.
The two also discussed the ongoing federal shutdown, now in its third week, which has halted payments to federal workers and programs such as WIC and SNAP. Hermes said public pressure on lawmakers could be pivotal in breaking the stalemate and urged citizens to attend town halls and “use the civil rights we still have to make our voices heard.”
The full conversation is available on the Oklahoma Memo Podcast and on YouTube.
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