Calls Grow for Biden to Federalize National Guard Amid GOP Support for Texas

US President Joe Biden speaks about his Investing in America and Bipartisan Infrastructure plans at Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wisconsin, on January 25, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Some Democrats are calling for President Joe Biden to federalize the National Guard as more states offer support for Texas amid the unprecedented border crisis.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 22 that federal agents could not be blocked from removing razor wire that Texas authorities erected at the U.S.–Mexico border, as the high court considers a legal challenge on the matter. Texas responded by putting up more razor wire.

“The Texas National Guard continues to hold the line in Eagle Pass. Texas will not back down from our efforts to secure the border in Biden’s absence,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.

That position prompted calls for President Biden to intervene.

“Governor Greg Abbott is using the Texas National Guard to obstruct and create chaos at the border,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He said that if Mr. Abbott defied the Supreme Court ruling, President Biden “needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now.”

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), in addition to some Democrat activists, also said he supports Mr. Biden federalizing the Guard.

Governors normally have authority over Guardsman, but presidents have the power to federalize Guard personnel under federal law if the United States “is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation,” if there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the U.S. government, or in a situation where the president “is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”

“The president may call into federal service members and units of the National Guard of any state in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws,” the law states.

Congress has also authorized the president to call up Guard personnel during a national emergency.

The last time a president activated the Guard was in the 1990s, when President George H.W. Bush activated personnel to help respond to riots in Los Angeles. President Bush’s Executive Order 12804 federalized the California National Guard. The federal government has since paid some members, but they are still under state control, in what’s known as Title 32 status, including being sent to the border.

White House Responds

The White House has declined to say whether officials are considering a federalization of the Guard.

“I’m not going to speak to any actions that the president might take, might not take, but we have been very clear about it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on CNN this week.

“I don’t have any decisions to speak to for the president. I don’t have anything on that,” John Kirby, another White House spokesperson, told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday.

The White House also condemned the actions by Texas authorities.

“Gov. Abbott is not interested in that, he wants to politicize an issue, and he’s not helping communities, he actually isn’t, and he’s actually putting border patrol agents in harm’s way by doing what he’s doing,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

Mr. Abbott said in a letter this week that President Biden “has violated his oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress” and that a failure to fulfill proscribed duties has triggered his state’s right to self-defense.

“For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border,” he said.

Oklahoma’s Governor Promises Troops

Oklahoma’s governor said on Friday he would send Guard personnel to Texas, after former President Donald Trump called on governors to send personnel to the border.

“Absolutely,” Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, said on Fox News.

“This is just common sense. In Texas, there’s 28 ports of entry and it’s already a federal law that it’s illegal to enter anywhere but those points of entry. And so the fact that the federal government, Biden, is cutting the razor wire, it just makes no sense at all. So, yes, we have the right to defend our country against invasion,” he added.

When asked about President Biden potentially federalizing Guard personnel, Mr. Stitt did not directly address the question.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, told reporters that he supports legislation introduced in his state that would let the Florida State Guard, in some instances, operate in other states.

“If we have Florida State Guard, that’s not something that Biden could just simply federalize,” he said.

Mr. DeSantis reestablished the State Guard in 2022, a move he said stemmed from the federal government being able to exercise control over National Guard personnel.