Everyone’s Talking About “Unlawful Orders.” No One’s Helping the People Who Might Face Them.

Political leaders on both sides are fueling chaos. The people on the ground are left with the impossible decisions — and no meaningful guidance.

Just under two weeks ago, six members of Congress publicly suggested that U.S. military personnel may be justified in refusing to follow “unlawful orders.” Legally, that idea isn’t new. Morally, it’s obvious. Practically, it’s almost useless.

And the response from the Pentagon and FBI to conduct legally dubious investigations of First Amendment activity on the part of members of Congress, is wrong, reckless, and dangerous. I mean, if you were upset about the FBI obtaining toll records from members of Congress related to the Capitol riot, then you must be losing your mind over this. I know, that requires moral consistency, but I digress.

Let me be clear up front: I’m not here to defend the video makers, or to criticize the President’s response. Focusing only on the White House misses something important. Because even if those six members of Congress were right on the law, they were still wrong in what they chose to say—and how they chose to say it.

The View From the Real World

I’m here to give voice to the men and women who have to execute the law in the tumultuous political cauldron that both sides are stoking right now. I spent more than two decades as an FBI agent and attorney. I’ve worked beside people who gave everything—time, safety, sleep, family moments, marriages—to serve this country. And I know that many of my former colleagues are now staring down gut-wrenching choices under this administration: follow orders they believe are improper, risk their careers, or risk their pensions and health care — the very benefits promised after years of sacrifice.

Some of them are just a few years from retirement. Some have kids with medical needs. Some are the sole breadwinner in their home. And they’re being told, implicitly or explicitly, that if they don’t fall in line, they could lose everything they’ve spent a lifetime earning.

Make no mistake: this version of political discourse isn’t serving them. And when political grandstanding results in vague statements to “ignore unlawful orders,” it lands with all the practical value of saying “the sky is blue” or “puppies are cute.” Technically true. Completely unhelpful.

Which Orders, Exactly?

What orders were these members of Congress talking about? The proposed attacks on alleged Venezuelan drug boats? The use of military personnel on American streets to enforce criminal law?

Are those orders unlawful? We all have opinions — believe me, I do — but these questions are unsettled, debated by constitutional scholars, and will ultimately be decided by the courts.

So what exactly is a young reservist, a new agent, or a National Guardsman supposed to do when their political leadership is suggesting they’re getting unlawful orders they should ignore? How does a line on social media help someone who’s staring down a direct order, a chain of command, and the possibility of losing a career, a pension, and the ability to support their family?

It doesn’t. It can’t.

The Intersection of Law and Reality

Giving practical legal advice to agents, officers, and operators working in fast-paced, fluid environments is challenging. In tactical situations, there’s no such thing as black and white–everything is gray. But the people on the street are counting on you to provide clear, actionable guidance, to offer clarity in the chaos, to clear the picture and not muddy it.

For the men and women on the business end of this discourse, there are consequences—real, human consequences. Stress, pressure, imperfect information, and seconds to act are the rules of the game. And when the stakes are that high, people don’t need slogans. They need guidance. They need leaders willing to offer real, practical direction.

Unfortunately, what we got instead was political performance. The Trump administration’s reaction was misguided and inflammatory—but the six members of Congress didn’t offer anything better. Their comments seemed more designed to generate a headline than to help the people who might actually be forced to live with the fallout.

The People Who Pay the Price

Here’s the hard truth: every bad decision at the top rolls downhill. And the people who end up alone at the bottom aren’t the ones tweeting policy opinions. They’re the soldiers, agents, deputies, sailors, and officers who actually have to act—or refuse to act—in real time.

They’re the ones left holding the line, uncertain and terrified of choosing wrong.

Our political leadership—on all sides—owes them more than platitudes. They owe clarity. They owe honesty. They owe seriousness equal to the gravity of the choices they may soon be forced to make.

We Need Better Than This

I don’t care if you love Trump, hate Trump, or fall somewhere in between. This isn’t about partisanship. It’s about responsibility. It’s about leadership. It’s about recognizing that words from people in power carry weight—and that weight falls on people who don’t have the luxury of treating this like a talking point.

If leaders truly believe unlawful orders might be coming, they should say which ones, why, and what the lawful options are. They should offer real guidance, not applause lines. And if they don’t know? Then they should say nothing until they do.

Because a young officer staring down an impossible choice deserves more than political theater.