Governor Jim Pillen is standing with 52 other state and territorial governors opposing proposed federal legislation that would endanger or deny their ability to act as commanders in chief over their respective National Guards.
He signed onto a letter expressing concern over LP480, submitted by the Department of Defense to the Senate Armed Services Committee, calling for Air National Guard members to be folded into the Space Force.
In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts said he hadn’t seen the proposed legislation, but would join the governors in their opposition.
“Being a former governor myself, you can be darned sure I’m going to be fighting to protect the prerogatives of our governors,” said Ricketts. “And so, if our governors say it’s going to harm them, I’m going to be taking the side of the governors versus the federal bureaucrats.”
The proposal would require Congress to override existing law, which requires approval of a governor for changes to National Guard units
Pillen said all components of the Guard are a ready resource when disaster strikes within state boundaries, as well as when they are deployed to other states or nations.
