Newsom Threatens To Pull CA From Governors Group If It Won’t Condemn Trump Deployments
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker escalated their opposition to President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops across states, warning on Monday that they could pull their states from the National Governors Association (NGA) if the group fails to condemn what they call unconstitutional federal overreach.
In a letter to the NGA, Newsom framed Trump’s actions as “an infringement of state sovereignty,” urging bipartisan unity against the federal deployment of troops into states without the home governor’s consent.
“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, warning that broken norms are “difficult to repair, and the shoe can quickly be on the other foot.”
Newsom made it clear that California would withdraw from the NGA if the organization fails to “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.”
Similarly, Pritzker condemned the Trump administration’s actions as “an illegal abuse of federal power,” criticizing Texas Governor Greg Abbott for allowing National Guard units to participate in what he called a “manufactured political stunt.”
“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 wrote. He added that the NGA’s credibility depends on “our willingness to apply our principles consistently, regardless of which administration attacks them.”
Pritzker concluded by emphasizing that National Guard members “should never be used as political props,” urging governors to denounce what he characterized as authoritarian attempts by Trump and his allies to override state authority.
The NGA, a bipartisan organization of governors, has occasionally weighed in on federal matters. On Sept. 29, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R) and Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D), NGA chair and vice chair respectively, issued a joint statement urging Congress to avoid a government shutdown, demonstrating the group’s capacity for bipartisan consensus.
Trump has previously federalized National Guard troops, deploying California units to Los Angeles in June amid immigration raid protests, and later expanding operations to Washington, D.C., Memphis, and Chicago. However, a federal judge in Oregon blocked planned deployments of Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, citing insufficient evidence of unrest, and barred additional troops from California and Texas.
Despite legal setbacks, Trump defended his actions Monday, asserting that Republican-led states are “eager” to assist and “want our agents protected.”