Every American in the armed forces, and any veteran who has served, hopes and prays for peace and stability under the recently reelected, incoming commander in chief. Political leanings are no factor here. We salute and serve because that’s who we are — even as our oaths may soon be tested as the next frontline in the war for America’s soul.

Everyone in the military takes an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Enlisted service members also swear to “obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” Given Donald Trump’s threats to use the military against his own enemies, some wonder with dread: What will the military do if the president gives unconstitutional orders? While nobody would ever want such a challenge, I am fully confident that Americans in uniform will honor the highest duty we swore, which is to the Constitution.

My introduction to the oath came at West Point, when a Vietnam War veteran and professor put it to me straight: “Just who do you want to be? An employee? Or a professional, self-abnegating servant of the nation?” It was an admonition and expectation that, decades on, may be the most consistent North Star I’ve known. I fought with better men than me who died in Iraq, I spent years and years overseas missing birthdays and everydays with my young daughters, and my final act in uniform was to give away a kidney at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. I wouldn’t have done those things if I hadn’t meant the words spoken at my commissioning ceremony, pledging my “true faith and allegiance,” which means more to me than my next breath even now that I’ve retired from active service.

I’m not alone. Millions of others put that same oath at the center of their lives. I liken it to a baptism; instead of joining a faith community, we pledge our lives to the ideals of the United States.

These aren’t just words. They’re practical; they’re our common ground regardless of where we’re from or what political differences we might have. They build trust for cohesion to function amid terrifying and violent circumstances. And these oaths that power American national security will likely be tested in coming years.

During his first administration, Trump threatened use of the Insurrection Act (of 1807). At one point he suggested the military should shoot protesters in the legs, which clearly would have been illegal. More recently, he’s said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act (of 1798) and may use the military to detain and deport noncitizens. If either order came to pass — for the 1st Armored Division to roll into Cincinnati or the 82nd Airborne to drop on D.C. — it would immediately pose a can’t-fail test for the American military.

What will the troops do? Must members of the U.S. military blindly obey their commander in chief? Or should these individuals always defy orders they consider unconstitutional?

Unfortunately, the answers aren’t straightforward.

The U.S. military oaths counsel thoughtful loyalty, not unthinking fealty — and the law treats each troop as responsible for making the right choice. There’s no respondeat superior (“let the master answer”), no “just following orders” defense, a principle discredited since World War II when the international community held middlemen and foot soldiers responsible for their war crimes that were ordered by Nazi commanders. Thus the military’s first duty is to obey legal orders (and disobey illegal orders). Our generals and JAGs (military lawyers) must lead the institution through the ethical minefields ahead. They, and everyone in camo, must stand their moral ground with courage indistinguishable from the battlefield. Because their oaths expect they “should be prepared not only to die for [their] country, but to be fired for it,” in the words of John Silber.

There’s another bedrock obligation for military members, a principle that has made the uniformed services among the last remaining trusted institutions in the nation. To preserve American democracy as it exists, the armed forces must always remain politically neutral and not side with any politician or party. This is where things get even messier.

If a president ordered the military to shoot protesters, or to become substantially involved with wholesale domestic detentions, what the military must do — obey or defy — depends heavily on the situation’s specifics and any actual violent threat. To issue an advisory opinion without that context would be malpractice. The world is as gray and complex as our oaths are pure and simple.

Because there could be constitutional circumstances for military engagement on U.S. soil. We just can’t know yet whether controversial orders will come, and if so what the situation will be.

What we can know is that the U.S. military is a house with good bones. It’s an institution that’s prepared for dire circumstances like these for quite some time. A century ago, a chaplain at West Point penned the “Cadet Prayer,” which advises: “Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.”

Let’s hope that our next president does not attempt to abuse his authority as commander in chief. But if he does, Americans in uniform will choose the harder right — so help us God.

ML Cavanaugh recently retired after 25 years in the U.S. Army. He co-founded the Modern War Institute at West Point. @MLCavanaugh

The details surrounding the emergency spending bill are expected to be delayed and may “slip by a day” as the deadline to avoid a government shutdown looms.

Lawmarkers were expected to share the text of the emergency spending bill to avoid a government shutdown and address disaster relief on Sunday, but Fox News is told the text “may slip by a day.”

It comes as both House and Senate lawmakers negotiate over how large the disaster aid package should be, and whether it should be attached to an end-of-year federal funding bill that’s critical to avoiding a partial government shutdown during the holiday season.

This could pose a problem because government funding expires at 11:59:59 p.m. on Friday. Pushing this back means the House may not be able to process the bill until the end of the week. 

GOP REBELS GO TO WAR OVER BIDEN’S MAMMOTH $98B DISASTER AID REQUEST

It is also noted that it doesn’t take much for the Senate to slow things down if senators demand time. 

The House has a so-called “three-day rule” which requires text to be posted for three days before debate and vote. However, waiting until tomorrow means the House may not consider the bill until Thursday or Friday – the peak of the deadline. 

Fox News is told there are no hold-ups with government funding, through mid-March, or the disaster package for Hurricanes Helene, Milton, wildfires in Maui, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore and tornadoes in the Midwest, but that there is an issue with agricultural provisions “and other things important to leaders on both sides.”

BIDEN ASKS CONGRESS FOR $98 BILLION IN HELENE, MILTON DISASTER RELIEF FUNDING

President Biden wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson about disaster aid after Helene and Milton. (Getty Images)

One source declined to answer when Fox was asked if there was an effort to tuck last-minute provisions into the catch-all measure for Syria or drones. 

In early October, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital that Helene would likely be “one of the most expensive storms that the country has ever encountered.”

The Biden administration has asked for over $100 billion in funding for disaster aid in the aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus is calling on Republican leaders to reject President Biden’s disaster aid request.

President Biden, accompanied by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (R), gives an update on the government’s response to Hurricanes Milton and Helene in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on October 11, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

The group is demanding a slimmed-down package covering what is “absolutely necessary,” to be offset with spending cuts elsewhere.

“Congress should not pass a whopping $100 billion unpaid disaster supplemental funding bill — that Democrats will use to cement their own unrelated priorities — in the waning days of Democrat control in Washington right before Republicans take control of the White House and both Chambers,” the House Freedom Caucus statement read.

“The House should consider only what is absolutely necessary right now to provide critical relief to hurricane victims and farmers, and pay for it with offsets from wasteful spending elsewhere in the government, then wait for President Trump to take office to better manage disaster relief.”

If new spending is not approved by way of appropriations bills or a stopgap measure, a partial government shutdown could happen before Christmas. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped several Californians — including former San Joaquin Valley congressman Devin Nunes — for posts in his next administration.

Nunes, a Republican and former dairy farmer from Tulare, resigned his House seat after nearly two decades in 2022 to become chief executive of Trump Media & Technology Group, which is the parent company of the president-elect’s Truth Social platform. On Saturday, Trump announced on the platform that he had selected Nunes to serve as chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

The board “exists exclusively to provide the President with an independent source of advice” on intelligence matters, and “has access to all information necessary to perform its functions,” according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Its members do not require Senate confirmation.

Trump wrote that Nunes would use his experience as former chair of the House Intelligence Committee “and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax” to provide Trump with “independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety” of actions taken by the U.S. intelligence agencies.

Nunes was a staunch ally of Trump throughout the House’s investigation into ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, which Nunes helped lead given his intelligence committee post. He dismissed various connections between Trump campaign officials and Russian assets even as now-Sen. Adam B. Schiff — a Democrat from California on the intelligence committee — alleged Trump’s team had colluded with the Russians and the Justice Department pursued its own investigation.

Trump said Nunes would maintain his CEO position with Trump Media. Trump has also nominated other Trump Media officials to prominent posts in his administration — including pro wrestling mogul Linda McMahon, his pick for Education secretary, and Kash Patel, his pick for FBI director.

Patel is a former staffer on the House Intelligence Committee under Nunes, and a fellow Trump loyalist.

Nunes wrote on Truth Social that he was “looking forward to serving our great nation again” under Trump. On Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Nunes sang Patel’s praises and said they would work together — with Trump’s other justice and intelligence nominees — to “restore integrity back into” the system.

“It’s critical to do what the president wants to do, what he promised the American people, [which] is to get these agencies focused on going after bad guys and keeping Americans safe,” Nunes said.

Trump also on Saturday named Richard “Ric” Grenell, another loyalist from California, as his “envoy for special missions” — a role that does not currently exist.

Grenell, who during Trump’s first term served as acting director of national intelligence and as ambassador to Germany, previously worked at the United Nations Security Council.

Trump said Grenell “will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,” and “will continue to fight for Peace through Strength, and always put AMERICA FIRST.”

Grenell called working under Trump “an honor of a lifetime” in a post on X.

“President Trump is a problem solver who keeps Americans safe and prosperous,” he wrote. “We have so much to do. Let’s get to work.”

Grenell is a firebrand known for his caustic attacks on social media. He was heavily criticized by German officials while ambassador — one called him “a biased propaganda machine” — and his appointment as acting national intelligence director during Trump’s first term was met with scorn from Democrats, who said he lacked the intelligence experience necessary for the post.

Grenell, who has a home in Palm Springs and previously taught at the USC Annenberg School of Communication, has also drawn both support and derision from California lawmakers.

Grenell, who is gay, has been flagged as anti-LGBTQ+ by queer rights groups for railing against transgender youth rights and the Equality Act. When California Republicans honored Grenell on the California Senate floor in the name of Pride Month in 2023, several Democrats walked off the floor in protest — including gay state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who called Grenell “a guy who is truly a self-hating gay man, who takes tons of anti-LGBTQ positions.”

Trump on Saturday also nominated former Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar to serve as deputy secretary of Homeland Security.

Edgar, an IBM executive, previously served in Trump’s first term as chief financial officer and as associate deputy undersecretary of management for Homeland Security.

In a Truth Social post announcing his selection, Trump credited Edgar with helping to lead a “revolt” against sanctuary cities as mayor of Los Alamitos, a tiny Orange County city.

“I am very excited to have Troy on our team, as he will help us Make America Great Again!” Trump wrote.

The California Values Act, which took effect Jan. 1, 2018, restricts local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration officials in many cases. Edgar and other Los Alamitos officials approved an ordinance that tried to exempt the city from the state law — galvanizing support from other conservative officials in the state and drawing the attention of Trump, who invited Edgar to the White House.

The Trump administration sued to block the California law, but the Supreme Court rejected the challenge in 2020, leaving the law intact.