Article II Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, "the President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States."
Not that the constitution matters ...
This process was exactly what could be observed in Portugal in the beginning of the 2010 decade.
The opposition was not able to buy the military, and the government was returned to power by by promising raise in payment.
It's when the orders come in to directly use military force to support unconstitutional acts that we find out, not simply when the military fails to intervene in legal disputes.
It is also worth mentioning that the military is not a uniform and monolithic entity. If you're asking what arm is on the other side of that civil war, well it was originally part of the one the initiated the coup in the first place.
Trust me, no one wants a military coup. It should not be a tool used lightly. Do not ask for this until all other options have been exhausted
U.S. law requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to have served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of staff of the Army, the chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the commandant of the Marine Corps, or the commander of a unified or specified combatant command.
Just after 2:00 a.m. eastern time this morning, the Senate confirmed Retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan Caine, who goes by the nickname “Razin,” for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a vote of 60–25.
Although Caine has 34 years of military experience, he did not serve in any of the required positions.
The law provides that the president can waive the requirement if “the President determines such action is necessary in the national interest,” and he has apparently done so for Caine.
The politicization of the U.S. military by filling it with Trump loyalists is now, as Kendall writes, “indisputable.”
~ Letters from an American (April 11, 2025) Heather Cox Richardson - https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-11-2025