Committee of National Renewal

The **Committee of National Renewal**, abbreviated as the **CNR** and also known as **COMREN**, was the official name of the ruling military-civilian government of the United States of America that seized power under the leadership of General Mark Milley in September 2041.

Following a constitutional crisis in the aftermath of the disputed 2040 presidential election, the armed forces under the leadership of General Mark Milley led a coup d'état against the government of acting president Robert Menendez to reclaim control over the country, which had erupted into riots and protests. Under the Committee of National Renewal, total martial law was implemented and the constitution was suspended, making the CNR the sole source of authority within the nation. All existing political parties were disbanded and dissolved, though new ones were permitted to form in a limited form. Whilst several state organs were retained, the CNR became the highest government body and its chair was *de-facto* more powerful than even the president, who was reduced to a largely figurehead position within government. Despite this, many of the changes to the hierarchy of government passed unnoticed during the early period of the committee as the positions of president and chairman were both held by General Mark Milley.

During the existence of the committee, there were three main periods of internal governance. The first, from 2041 to 2043, was dominated by General Mark Milley and the original group of junta members. The second period, from 2043 to 2044, was dominated by Admiral Michael Gilday and a second generation of junta figures who took power after deposing Milley. The third and final period, from 2044 to 2045, was led by Richard Perry and an unstable coalition of pro-military figures following the assassination of Gilday.

## History

### Background

 Main articles: 2040 United States presidential election and 2041 United States Constitutional Crisis
Following the tied results of the 2040 presidential election, political deadlock meant that no individual was able to be elected as president or vice president by either the electoral college or the joint chambers of Congress in a subsequent aborted contingent election. During the contingent election, rioters and far right paramilitary members took control of Capitol Hill and held members of Congress hostage, necessitating the declaration of martial law in Washington D.C. and the use of military force to recapture the legislative building. Despite having rescued members of Congress, the armed forces demanded the relocation of congress-people to secret military bases across the country, effectively suspending the legislative branch's ability to function. With Congress unable to sit, a further contingent election became impossible, and on January 20, 2041, Senate president pro tempore Robert Menendez became acting president with the full powers of the presidency. During Menendez's short presidency, his administration clashed repeatedly with the armed forces over security measures and came under pressure as riots and local uprisings became common features of American politics.

### September 2041 Coup d'état

 Main article: 2041 United States Coup d'état
In the morning of September 6, 2041, military governors across the 50 states and Washington D.C. began moving military assets across the country to seize control over key parts of national infrastructure, such as interstate motorways, television networks, social media companies, and internet providers. At the same time, General Mark Milley travelled to the White House in Washington D.C. to meet with President Robert Menendez; during the meeting, Milley fruitlessly attempted to persuade Menendez to voluntarily resign his office, before ordering the forceful consolidation of army control over the building. In the ensuing conflict, Menendez was killed by a stray bullet whilst attempting to flee the White House, effectively toppling the democratic government of the United States. Following the death of President Menendez, acting Chief Justice Amy Barrett inaugurated General Milley to the office of president of the United States of America at 3:27pm EST, granting the military full executive control over the nation. At 5:45pm EST, General Mark Milley held a televised press conference announcing that President Robert Menendez had tendered his resignation, and that the armed forces would be forming a temporary military-civilian government for the remaining duration of the 2041-45 presidential term; during the coup process, Menendez's death was hidden from the general public, until November 19, 2041 when it was claimed that Menendez had died of a heart attack.

### Formation

With the announcement of the Military-Civilian administration on September 6, 2041, President Mark Milley dismissed all members of the government and began to assemble his own administration. On September 7, 2041, President Milley announced that former vice president Mike Pence would be assuming office as vice president once again as part of the new government, conferring a sense of legitimacy upon the new regime. In response, large protests in major Democratic-leaning cities across the countries erupted as leading left-wing figures branded the takeover as a partisan coup to subvert an electoral mandate from the population; many of these protests were brutally surprised by members of the armed forces, only further encouraging further protests across the country. In response to the protests of civilians, total martial law was furthered with the implementation of curfews, checkpoints, and the requirement for personal identification cards. On November 11, 2041, President Milley announced that the United States constitution would be temporarily suspended and a new constitution written in its place; alongside the suspension of the constitution, the twin major political parties were officially prohibited, with membership becoming a civil offence. In place of the Democratic party, the protest driven Take Back America movement reformed into the Progressive party led by former president Alexandria Raines and chaired by former vice president Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whilst the Republican party remnants fractured between the pro-military Patriotic party led by Elise Stefanik, and the libertarian Freedom party led by Liz Cheney.

### Political reforms of 2042

    Following the suspension of the United States Constitution on November 11, 2041, President Mark Milley began to implement a package of political reforms under the banner of the "Programme for America". Whilst not ideologically attached to any of the parties of the Patriotic Movement for America, under Milley the PMA increasingly became the political wing of the Committee of National Renewal and was utilised to gain grassroots support for the military regime. On April 18, 2042, Milley announced a widespread territorial reorganisation of the fifty American states into constituent provinces under a unitary government, largely stripping the states of their autonomous power; whilst the move was agreed unanimously by the committee, the dissolution of individual state governments was deeply unpopular with many citizens and led to digital protests. On May 17th, the CNR voted to begin the process of drafting a new constitution with a mandate to implement the new constitution before January 20, 2025, the start of the next presidential term under the suspended 1789 constitution. In response to the prospect of a new constitution written by the military junta, former presidents Alexandria Raines, Selina Meyer, and Alexander Turpin jointly rejected the authority of the CNR and called for an immediate transfer to democracy during a conference in Seattle on May 29, 2042, and the trio made regular appearances across the western coast calling for President Milley to resign from office during the spring. Amid rising pressure from opposition groups, the Committee of National Renewal called a week-long conference on the future of America at the Pentagon from August 17 to August 24, 2042; during the conference, divisions began to emerge between different factions of the government, with the Patriotic Party and armed forces leadership urging Milley to remain in power, whilst the American People's Party actively sought a return to civilian led government and the removal of the military from public life. On August 26, 2042, Emma Robertson of the APP withdrew her party's support for the regime after having been outvoted on constitutional proposals, and called upon Milley to resign the presidency; with the removal of the APP, the CNR erupted into a political crisis as its political wing began to collapse. In order to restore his personal control over the governing junta, on September 1, 2042 President Milley reshuffled the Committee of National Renewal and removed all members of the APP from the body, instead appointing loyalists from the military and the Patriotic party in their places, whilst general secretary Richard Perry of the Patriotic Movement for America began a reorganisation of the alliance into a de-facto political party.

### Legionary revolution and Battle for Los Angeles

On November 19, 2042, former president Alexander Turpin was shot by a government agent during a pro-democracy rally in Arizona, prompting spontaneous riots to occur against military forces in major liberal cities; whilst Turpin survived the assassination attempt, the notion that the government would go as far as to attempt to kill former presidents caused widespread outrage across the country. In response to the government's actions, major trade unions called for a general strike, whilst the American People's Party urged citizens to attempt an insurgency against the government. On December 11, 2042, army forces in Washington state launched a mutiny against the Committee of National Renewal and pledged loyalty to APP leader Emma Robertson, who founded the National Legion as a paramilitary force to encompass soldiers loyal to her party - the National Legion expanded on December 14th with the defection of the staff of Los Angeles Air Force Base, followed by Naval Base San Diego and Training Fort Irwin on December 17th. Whilst initially consolatory towards the National Legion, President Mark Milley ordered the destruction of the faction during a committee meeting in January 2043 and launched an attack on Los Angeles Air Force Base on February 18, 2043. During the Battle for Los Angeles, the Air Force launched an attack under the command of Lt. Col. Graham Arnem against the National Legion base in the city, with the 135th Air Division launching waves of *F-22A Raptor* fighter jets, *Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider* bombers, and a series of *AC-130J Ghostrider* attack planes in a bid to gain air superiority in the city. Despite possessing a smaller supply of planes, National Legion forces under the command of Master Sergeant Joanne Bass succeeded in repelling government forces after launching a cyber attack which crippled Air Force technology, whilst also utilising several squadrons of *F-35A Lightning II* and *F-16 Fighting Falcon* fighter jets to repel Air Force planes from the region in the evening of February 19th. With the failure of the 135th Air Division to reclaim Los Angeles Air Base, the CNR redirected the 17th Air Wing to aid in the attack on the National Legion. On February 23, 2043, President Mark Milley gave a televised ultimatum to the National Legion to surrender, threatening to bomb the city of Los Angeles if the group did not stand down its forces, which was received with a mixture of derision and outrage from various groups; the APP and National Legion called the move a "strategic bluff" and mocked the "weakness" of Milley, whilst elements within the loyalist armed forces decried the threat as a "concerning assault on innocent civilians". On February 28, 2043, the 17th Air Wing launched a bombing campaign against the city of Los Angeles which lasted for four hours between 11am and 3pm, whilst divisions from the 135th Air Division launched a second attack on Los Angeles Air Base to draw away the National Legion from being able to protect the city; during the attack, an estimated thousand Americans lost their lives and millions of dollars worth of damage was wrought, whilst several dozen servicepeople from both sides were killed in action.

### 2043 Coup d'état

Following Mark Milley's authorisation of military force against innocent civilians during the Battle for Los Angeles in February 2043, several senior military figures within the Committee of National Renewal privately expressed their discontent with Milley's leadership, with several members of the Patriotic Movement for America alliance penning a letter to President Milley to express their concern with his leadership on March 2, 2043. On March 3, 2043, President Milley held a conference with members of the CNR to gauge levels of internal opposition to his leadership of the junta; during the meeting, armed forces director Michael Gilday and deputy chairwoman Elise Stefanik both expressed concern at the use of military force against civilians but were condemned by Milley and vice president Mike Pence for undermining the CNR. In the evening of March 5th, armed forces in Washington D.C. locked down the city under the guise of routine drills and closed all access to the city. Under the command of Admiral Michael Gilday, a squad of Marine Corps soldiers stormed the White House at 8:34pm and arrested President Mark Milley in a coup d'état, whilst Vice President Mike Pence was arrested at 8:42pm at his office in Number One Observatory Circle. Following his arrest, Milley was stripped of his position as chairman of the CNR, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and as president of the United States, with all three titles being assumed by Admiral Gilday.