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Saturday, April 7, 2018

Oregon governor defies Trump, says she won't do what no one is asking her to do

Not only is no one asking, they can't. Apparently, the governor of Oregon is a little unclear on how the National Guard works. Oregon Governor Kate Brown is boldly joining the "Resistance," and has refused to send Oregon National Guard troops to help enforce immigration law along the Mexican border. Of course, no one is asking her to do that. President Donald Trump has said he will use National Guard troops to protect the border with Mexico, and it is to the states that share a border with Mexico that the request has been issued. The governors of those states are all on board with the initiative:
Other governors welcomed President Trump's decision, including in Texas, which shares a border with Mexico.
. . .
The governor also pointed to previous decisions by the Obama and Bush administrations, in 2010 and 2006 respectively, to use National Guard troops to secure the southern border.
The governors of Arizona and New Mexico also have agreed to participate. California, of course, is attempting to become part of Mexico, and most of us are OK with that so long as they actually secede from the union so we don't have to pay for it.

In any event, the National Guard is a source of reserve troops for the U.S. Army. It is usually under the control of the governor of the state in which its members reside. Every state has its own National Guard, which falls under the authority of the governor. The governor can use those troops for disaster relief or pretty much anything the governor wants and the state legislature is willing to pay for. To use those troops outside of their state, the president has to "nationalize" a state's Guard troops.

Once a state's Guard units are nationalized, their expenses are borne by the federal government and the troops can only be used outside the United States. Unless Guard troops are nationalized, they cannot serve outside of their state, and if they are nationalized, they can only serve outside the U.S. Kate Brown might be the commander-in-chief of the Oregon National Guard, but she clearly doesn't have a fucking clue how the National Guard works.


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