Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110
§253 Interference with State and Federal Law
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART I — ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL MILITARY POWERS › CHAPTER 13 — INSURRECTION › § 253
Summary
The President must use the militia, the armed forces, or other means to stop major unrest in a State. He must act when the unrest either so blocks state or federal laws that some people lose rights in the Constitution and the state can’t or won’t protect them, or when it blocks federal law or justice. If the first situation is true, the State is treated as denying equal protection under the Constitution.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §253
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The President, by using the militia or the armed forces, or both, or by any other means, shall take such measures as he considers necessary to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy, if it—
(1)so hinders the execution of the laws of that State, and of the United States within the State, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or
(2)opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.
In any situation covered by clause (1), the State shall be considered to have denied the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 33350:203.R.S. 5299. The words “armed forces” are substituted for the words “land or naval forces of the United States”. The word “shall” is substituted for the words “it shall be lawful for * * * and it shall be his duty”. DerivationAct Apr. 20, 1871, ch. 22, § 3, 17 Stat. 14.
Editorial Notes
Codification Another section 253 was renumbered section 240c of this title.
Amendments
2016—Pub. L. 114–328 renumbered section 333 of this title as this section. 2008—Pub. L. 110–181 amended section generally, substituting provisions directing the President to suppress certain insurrections and domestic violence in a State for provisions authorizing the President to employ the armed forces during a natural disaster or terrorist attack or to suppress an insurrection in a State and requiring notice to Congress during the exercise of such authority. 2006—Pub. L. 109–364 amended section catchline and text generally, substituting provisions authorizing the President to employ the armed forces during a natural disaster or terrorist attack or to suppress an insurrection in a State and requiring notice to Congress during the exercise of such authority for provisions directing the President to suppress certain insurrections and domestic violence in a State.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2008 Amendment Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title X, § 1068(d), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 326, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by this section [amending this section and section 334 and 12304 of this title and repealing section 2567 of this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 28, 2008].”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 253
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110