Former vice president Mike Pence, who made two public appearances in the city this week, expressed unease over reports that the Trump administration is weighing the use of the military — including the National Guard — in local law enforcement beyond Washington, D.C.
Speaking to reporters after an event on Wednesday at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Dorchester, Pence emphasized that while the military has long provided security in certain contexts, its domestic role must remain exclusive.
“There’s a long tradition of Marines providing security at U.S. embassies around the world, and it is altogether appropriate to protect federal facilities at home if they are under threat,” Pence said. “But beyond that, I would fully expect the administration to work within the confines of the Constitution and work with governors in terms of the deployment of the National Guard.”
Since returning to office, Trump has already federalized 2,000 members of the California National Guard (over the objections of the state’s governor) to provide security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and has dispatched National Guard units from several states to Washington, citing what he described as a rising crime problem.
Pence pointed to the nation’s “longstanding policy” under the post–Civil War Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the US military against American citizens for domestic law enforcement.
The former vice president, who previously served as Indiana’s governor and as a member of Congress, also offered praise for parts of Trump’s second administration, particularly on foreign policy and border security during its first eight months.
Still, Pence stressed his disagreements on trade policy, warning that tariffs drive up consumer costs.
“It’s the American company, and ultimately the consumer, that pays the cost for tariffs,” he said.
When asked to compare his experience in the first Trump term to what he is seeing in the second Trump term today, Pence said “a lot of people are different, but nothing’s really different.”
“The leadership style the president has the major decisions are made by one person, the president of the United States,” said Pence. “I expect that’s still the case, and the president’s got a team around them to give some input, but I think the president is still making the same decisions.”
Notably, Pence said he has never met JD Vance, Trump’s current vice president.
“[Vance] was actually something of a critic of our administration during our four years he came around, which is fine, it’s politics, it’s okay, but he emerged in the race for the Senate after I had been retired back to Indiana,” he said.
In addition to his appearance at the Kennedy Institute, Pence attended a closed-door event Tuesday night at the Harvard Institute of Politics, where his former Indiana running mate and fellow Hoosier, ex-governor Eric Holcomb, is serving as a fall fellow.
James Pindell is a Globe political reporter who reports and analyzes American politics, especially in New England.
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