Joe Biden Faces Growing Calls to Federalize Texas National Guard - eviltoast
  • Kiernian@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    So I looked up what “federalizing the National Guard” means in this case.

    The National Guard is a unique entity in that it answers to both state and federal governments. Troops can be mobilized by a state governor or the president, depending on need. The National Guard personnel restricting access to Shelby Park are on state orders as part of Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s sweeping border security initiative.

    In theory, the president or the defense secretary could divert those troops by tasking them with a federal mission.

    “There are a variety of statutes that allow the president to federalize the National Guard in different circumstances. But the only one that would clearly apply in this case is the Insurrection Act,” said Joseph Nunn, counsel at the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program.

    Nunn described the Insurrection Act as a “nuclear bomb hidden in the United States Code” and explained that using it would be politically costly.

    “The Insurrection Act gives the president sole discretion to decide whether the criteria for invoking it are met,” he explained. “There are quite literally no safeguards to stop it from being abused.”

    Historically, Nunn said, presidents have only invoked the act to federalize National Guard troops as a last resort. That was the case in 1957, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower mobilized the Arkansas National Guard to enforce a Supreme Court ruling on desegregation.

    So, this would mean USURPING the Governor’s control of the Texas National Guard in order to get them to do something else.

    THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT BIDEN TO DO.

    THIS IS A STUNT.

    THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SECESSION.

    They want to be able to point to Biden’s actions in this and say “Bad” in twelve different ways.

    They ALSO want someone to invoke the insurrection act so everyone can have carte blanche to use it whenever they want LATER, no matter who is in control.

    This is a horrible precedent to set.

    This whole situation is bad.

    Rep. Joaquin Castro said: “Governor Greg Abbott is using the Texas National Guard to obstruct and create chaos at the border.”

    The best option here might be to let his own idiocy backfire on him. I just hope there’s a way to do it without more loss of life.