California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday called on fellow governors — regardless of party — to unite in opposition to President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops into states that oppose the move.
Both governors warned they would pull their states out of the National Governors Association (NGA) if the group failed to condemn what they described as unconstitutional federal overreach.
In a letter to the NGA, Newsom said Trump’s actions amounted to “an infringement of state sovereignty” and urged the group to take a stand, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“It should not be difficult for state leaders, regardless of partisan affiliation, to agree that politicizing our states’ National Guard and deploying the Guard from one state into another, over the objections of the home-state Governor, harms the interests of states,” Newsom wrote.
He warned that “history shows that norms, once broken, are difficult to repair, and the shoe can quickly be on the other foot.”
Newsom said that if the NGA cannot “unequivocally tell the federal government that it is unacceptable to deploy troops from one state to another, over the objections of the Governor where troops are being sent,” California will withdraw from the group altogether.
In a separate letter, Pritzker issued a similar warning, denouncing what he called “an illegal abuse of federal power” by the Trump administration and the Texas National Guard’s deployment into Illinois.
“This action is an illegal abuse of federal power by the Trump administration, and Governor Greg Abbott’s willingness to exploit his own National Guard members to participate in a manufactured political stunt goes against the core principles of the NGA and our democracy,” his office said.
“This is precisely the federal and interstate overreach we warned against — gubernatorial authority being trampled, state sovereignty being ignored, and the constitutional balance between states being attacked,” Pritzker said. “If the President continues overriding Governors to deploy military assets into another state against another Governor’s will, we have abandoned the foundational principles that have protected our Republic for nearly 250 years.”
Pritzker added that the credibility of the NGA “rests on our willingness to apply our principles consistently, regardless of which administration attacks them.”
“Should National Governors Association leadership choose to remain silent, Illinois will have no choice but to withdraw from the organization,” he wrote. “I remain hopeful that principled leadership will prevail over political calculation and we can chart a path forward together.”
Pritzker concluded that “the brave men and women who serve in our country’s National Guard units should never be used as political props,” calling on governors to “unequivocally denounce authoritarianism as Trump and his allies attempt to usurp the will of state governors — and the American people.”
The NGA, which includes both Republican and Democratic governors, has occasionally spoken out on federal issues. On Sept. 29, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat — the organization’s chair and vice chair — released a bipartisan statement urging Congress to avoid a government shutdown.
“The consistent use of political brinksmanship when it comes to our government funding does not serve our states, territories, or our people well,” they wrote.
Trump first federalized California National Guard troops in June, deploying them to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids. The administration later expanded deployments to Washington, D.C., Memphis, and Chicago.
A federal judge in Oregon on Saturday blocked Trump’s planned deployment of Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, saying there was no evidence of significant violence or unrest.
The same order barred the Defense Department from sending additional troops from California or Texas, both of which had been preparing to dispatch personnel.
Despite the ruling, Trump defended his actions Monday, saying Republican-led states were “eager” to assist.
“Every one of them is willing to offer whatever we need,” he said in the Oval Office. “They want our agents protected.”