Calling it a “power grab,” Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) has expressed his opposition to the Biden administration’s proposal to transfer members of the Air National Guard to the Space Force without the permission of state or territorial governors. Fox News reports that Abbott penned a letter to President Biden on May 3 in which he said, “That proposal would give the Secretary of the Air Force unilateral authority to transfer Air National Guard units to the Space Force — without first obtaining gubernatorial consent.”
On Monday, Abbott stated:
By departing from this sensible arrangement, and allowing the Secretaries to dismantle National Guard units on a whim, Legislative Proposal 480 would set a dangerous precedent. Members of the Texas National Guard must always stand ready to respond to natural disasters, civil disturbances, and cartel activity that threaten our way of life.
President Biden and his Admin. are making a power grab for the National Guard.
They want to give the Secretaries unilateral authority to dismantle National Guard units on a whim.
Governors must not be sidelined as commander-in-chief of our National Guards.
Read my letter ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/encZzJ3MnW
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 6, 2024
Abbott is not alone in his opposition to the move. According to The Blaze, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) sent a similar letter on Friday. On top of that, back in April, the governors of 48 states and five U.S. territories also expressed their opposition to LP 480.
LP480 would enable the Secretary of the Air Force to transfer the covered space functions currently performed by the Air National Guard to the U.S. Space Force. The secretary would be enabled to change the status of an ANG unit to a unit of the USSF, to deactivate the unit, or to assign the unit to “a new Federal mission.”
The proposed legislation also waives the requirement to first obtain a governor’s consent prior to making such changes to a National Guard unit.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall approved a draft of the legislation in March, and it was forwarded to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Kendall offered his assurance that it would not set a precedent for other services to take over national guards without the permission of the respective governors. The move reportedly has the approval of Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.
Rogers stated, “I think that what the Air Force is suggesting is going to be successful. We are used to the National Guard Association being a very political organization that deploys these kind[s] of political activities. This is not one in which they should waste their time and this is not one in which they’re going to be successful.”
Retired Major Gen. Francis M. McGinn, who heads up the National Guard Association of the United States, does not agree. In an April op-ed he called the move “an existential threat to the National Guard” and “an attempt to bypass the longstanding authority Congress gave to governors requiring their consent before any National Guard units can be removed from their states.”
I would like to think that even in its darkest moments, the Left’s desire for power is not as drastic and dystopian as it sometimes seems. As naive as it sounds, I still hope that there are remnants of the Democrat party and the government who are scenting the wind and realizing that America is becoming the very thing it was created to oppose. But every day brings news that there is yet another depth to which the nation can sink.
The government may be concerned about suppressing opposition and ensuring that the administration can control the borders. I am sure that figures into their reasoning, and it may also be that in their hubris, they believe that a federal government under their aegis should naturally consolidate all power. People in power often begin to crave more power as time goes on.