Washington: US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday criticized six Democratic lawmakers for urging US service members to refuse unlawful commands, stating that it is illegal for Congress members to tell the military to defy presidential orders. Vance emphasized on the US social media platform X that if the president has not issued illegal orders, then Congress members advising the military to act against the president is inherently illegal. According to Anadolu Agency, the statement from Vance follows a video released by Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, along with Representatives Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Houlahan, who urged service members and intelligence officers to "refuse unlawful orders." Slotkin mentioned on ABC's 'This Week' that she was not aware of any instance in which US President Donald Trump had authorized unlawful military action. The lawmakers, all of whom have backgrounds in the armed forces or intelligence community, expressed their concerns in the video , addressing service members directly by stating that while Americans trust their military, this trust is currently at risk. They emphasized that the law clearly allows for the refusal of illegal orders. In response, President Trump labeled the group as 'traitors' on his Truth Social account, accusing them of 'sedition,' which he claimed is 'punishable by death.' He further insisted that the lawmakers 'SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW.' In August, Trump declared his intention to bring local police in the nation's capital under federal control and announced the deployment of the National Guard to manage what he described as a "public safety emergency." Trump has sought to deploy National Guard and active-duty troops to several Democratic-led cities, including Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, and Memphis, while also threatening military intervention in others like Baltimore, New York, New Orleans, Oakland, San Francisco, and St. Louis.