California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker threatened to withdraw their states from the National Governors Association if it does not condemn the Trump administration’s National Guard deployments.
In two separate letters sent on Monday, Pritzker and Newsom condemned the historically bipartisan organization for not publicly issuing a statement in opposition to the mobilization of troops to carry out domestic law enforcement duties.
The National Governors Association “has lost its voice and its way in the face of the Trump administration’s onslaught against democratic norms, including efforts to undermine the sovereignty of states as protected by the Tenth Amendment,” Newsom wrote in the letter to association members, first reported by Politico.
In a separate letter sent to NGA chair and Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Pritzker echoed Newsom’s concerns about the organization failing to take a strong stance against the administration.
“Should National Governors Association leadership choose to remain silent, Illinois will have no choice but to withdraw from the organization,” Pritzker wrote in a press release. “I remain hopeful that principled leadership will prevail over political calculation and we can chart a path forward together.”
Earlier this year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan quietly rescinded her NGA membership, citing a lack of bipartisan initiatives.
NGA did not respond to a request for comment from NOTUS.
National Guard troops were deployed to Chicago and Portland, Oregon last week by the Trump administration in response to protests against immigration enforcement. Both states have sued to stop the federal infiltrations and deployment of National Guard troops.
Over the weekend in Portland, a federal judge halted the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops against the will of local officials. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth then attempted to deploy Texas troops, which was also quickly blocked by the federal judge.
In Illinois, the state and city of Chicago filed a 62-page lawsuit, alleging that the Trump administration’s deployment of Texas troops to the Midwestern state puts the nation’s “bedrock principles in peril.”
“Illinois will not let the Trump administration continue on their authoritarian march without resisting,” Pritzker said. “We will use every lever at our disposal to stop this power grab because military troops should not be used against American communities.”
Despite the ongoing lawsuits, hundreds of Texas National Guardsmen arrived Tuesday in Illinois.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the president’s strategy is “unconstitutional, “illegal” and “dangerous.”