All 50 governors oppose Biden proposal on authority over the National Guard

All 50 governors have signed letters in opposition to a Biden administration proposal. So what is it that has governors like Gavin Newsom, Kathy Hochul, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott on the same side? A dispute about authority over the National Guard. Right now, individual governors have control over their National Guardsmen. That’s how it’s been for over 100 years. It’s a governor’s job to deploy them, for example, to natural disasters. Within their own state or to others in times of crisis. But a new Pentagon proposal is looking to partially change that in order to build up the Air Force’s Space Force. The proposal would give the Secretary of the Air Force the sole authority to move around Air National Guardsmen from any state to Space Force units. The secretary says the proposal impacts 14 space units, or around 1000 Air National Guardsmen. A White House official says the Biden administration stands by the proposal for a one time transfer of Air Guardsmen to the Space Force to help expand that division and expand on space security, but the governors are calling it overreach, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote in an open letter to lawmakers. If adopted, the proposal would flout more than a century of precedent and undermine federal law protection for state control of their National Guard. Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote in his open letter to Biden. Instead of attempting such a power grab in Congress, the US Department of the Air Force should work with the affected governors to build up the space force in a way that is consistent with federal law. And a joint letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, signed by the other 48 governors says legislation that sidesteps, eliminates or otherwise reduces governor’s authority within their States and territories. Undermines long standing partnerships, precedents, military readiness, and operational efficacy. Right now, the proposal is only that it’s being reviewed by the Senate Armed Services Committee. There are no further reports on what committee members plan to do with it. For updates to this story, stay with straight Arrow News by visiting our website san.com or download these Straight Arrow News App.