I have a idea for a TL where the Business Plot fires but is defeated. What would happen?
Would the plotters be tried before Congress?
How could you get any military forces of significance to go through with it, I'm thinking most officers would still balk at that sort of thing.
Anyone who got involved in something like this would pretty much be committing treason, an act that would be followed by a court-martial and almost certain execution by firing squad and burial in an unmarked grave.
Those kinds of consequences would give pause to a lot of people.
The probability that such an uprising would lead to actual executions is very slim. None, after all, occurred in the aftermath of the Civil War, at least not on charges of treason or secession, or rebellion against the government.RT. 64. ASSAULTING OR WILLFULLY DISOBEYING SUPERIOR OFFICER.--Any person subject to military law who, on any pretense whatsoever, strikes his superior officer or draws or lifts up any weapon or offers any violence against him, being in the execution of his office, or willfully disobeys any lawful command of his superior officer, shall suffer death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.
Would the plotters be tried before Congress?
No. Separation of Powers, remember? They would be tried before the courts, like most criminals are.
Are you saying that Congress wouldn't go into recess so that the senators and representatives could attend the trial?
Are you saying that Congress wouldn't go into recess so that the senators and representatives could attend the trial? Even if the trials themselves are a mix of court martials and cases at Federal Circuit Court, I should think Congress would consider it a legitimate reason to go into recess to attend the trials.
That said, starred officers (such as Generals and Admirals) are specifically promoted from their respective service branch's officer corps by the President and confirmed by Congress, even if the process is basically a cattle call when dealing with two stars or fewer. Under such conditions, using the impeachment process for, say, MacArthur or Patton, or whichever general picks up the gauntlet, would not be completely inappropriate.
That's no guarantee against a coup d'etat. In fact, in the 20th century it has often been a prerequisite for it. The army, as a highly conservative establishment, in most countries tends to take a dim view on any sort of populistic levelling, and usually accusations of the elected government being despots, catering to mods, and destroying the constitution are thrown about. When the army does intervene, they invariable do so under the pretext of "restoring the Constitution".Every member of the US military swears to uphold the Constitution upon joining. Officers in particular are entrenched into the mentality of the need to uphold both the US government and its laws from day one.