Three reforms that would help to prevent some of the improper uses of National Guard forces

[Nevilledog]

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In yesterday’s markup of the National Defense Authorization Act, the House Armed Services Committee voted for three reforms that would help to prevent some of the improper uses of National Guard forces we’ve seen in the past year and a half. 1/14

First, the committee rejected an amendment that would have stripped @EleanorNorton’s D.C. National Guard Home Rule Act from the NDAA. That legislation, championed on the committee by @RepAnthonyBrown, transfers command of the D.C. Guard from the president to D.C.’s mayor. 2/14

As my colleague @josephanunn and I have explained, that’s a long overdue reform. Presidential command of the D.C. National Guard is a relic from an era before D.C. had any local government. 3/14

Why D.C.'s Mayor Should Have Authority Over the D.C. National Guard
To prevent the president from misusing the D.C. National Guard or blocking its proper use, Congress should give the mayor of D.C. control.
https://www.justsecurity.org/74098/why-d-c-s-mayor-should-have-authority-over-the-d-c-national-guard/
Presidential command of the D.C. National Guard also creates a gaping loophole in the Posse Comitatus Act, handing the president a domestic military police force to use at will without having to follow the rules set by Congress. 4/14

Presidential command also means the mayor has to get permission—and go through layers of federal bureaucracy—to use D.C.’s National Guard for any purpose, including to protect public safety in the district. On January 6, that led to delays that may have cost lives. 5/14

Second, the committee voted for an amendment by @RepSherrill clarifying that a governor can’t send her (non-federalized) NG forces into another jurisdiction without that jurisdiction’s consent. Put bluntly, a state can’t militarily invade another U.S. state or territory. 6/14

Last June, that’s exactly what happened. The governors of 11 states agreed to a request by Trump to send their Guard forces to D.C. to police protests, over Mayor Bowser’s objections. Nothing like that had ever happened before. 7/14

The amendment’s opponents argued it would bar presidents from using the NG to enforce civil rights laws in recalcitrant states. @RepSherrill easily knocked down that strawman. Presidents have express legal authority to federalize the Guard in those circumstances. 8/14

You can read more about these first two reforms in this @JustSecurity piece by @sorendayton and @coleblum… 9/14

The National Guard at Lafayette Square and the January 6th Attempted Insurrection: Fixes for the FY2022 NDAA
Congress should close the loopholes that allow the federal government to circumvent the Posse Comitatus Act.
https://www.justsecurity.org/78053/the-national-guard-at-lafayette-square-and-the-january-6th-attempted-insurrection-fixes-for-the-fy2022-ndaa/
…in this @DefenseOne piece by Angelo Pis-Dudot and me… 10/14

Three Fixes to Prevent Another Battle of Lafayette Square
A year after federal forces violently cleared the park near the White House, the legal loopholes that militarized D.C. remain wide open.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/06/three-fixes-prevent-another-battle-lafayette-square/174413/
…or in this letter to the House Armed Services Committee, signed by 32 organizations from across the ideological spectrum. 11/14

Coalition Letter Urges Congress to Support Changes to Domestic Deployment of the National Guard
On August 31, 2021, the Brennan Center joined thirty other civil society groups in calling on Congress to make crucial changes to the laws governing domestic deployment of the National Guard.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/coalition-letter-urges-congress-support-changes-domestic-deployment

Finally, the committee voted for an amendment by @RepEscobar that prohibits the use of private funds to finance inter-state deployments of the National Guard, unless the deployment is for emergency or disaster relief purposes. 12/14

Sorry, Governor Noem – next time you want to send the South Dakota NG to the Texas border for a publicity stunt, the voters who pay taxes in your state will have to foot the bill, not a wealthy political donor. 13/14

A GOP Donor Is Funding South Dakota National Guard Troops In Texas
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Tuesday she will use a donation from a Republican donor to fund a deployment of up to 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico.
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/30/1011649192/a-gop-donor-is-funding-south-dakota-national-guard-troops-in-texas

Congratulations—and many thanks—to @EleanorNorton, @RepAnthonyBrown, @RepSherrill, and @RepEscobar for their hard work on these important reforms! We're a giant step closer to enacting protections against political abuses of our National Guard forces. 14/14

[Hekate]

1. KnR

Thanks for this comprehensive information