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CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and four other Republican governors signed a letter to the Secretary of Defense on Tuesday, asserting that disciplinary directives to National Guard …
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CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and four other Republican governors signed a letter to the Secretary of Defense on Tuesday, asserting that disciplinary directives to National Guard members serving in a state capacity “are beyond [the secretary’s] constitutional and statutory authority.”
In the letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the governors note that the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed “that the National Guard is under the command and control of the governor of each state, unless those members are called to active service under Title 10.”
The letter asks the Secretary to reconsider directives that dictate whether training can occur, setting punishment requirements and requiring separation from a state’s National Guard for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The letter to Austin asks him to reconsider Guard directives on the subject.
“Under Title 32 duty status, the Wyoming National Guard is under my command and control,” Gordon said in a news release. “These directives are an overreach of the federal government’s authority.”
Joining Gordon in signing the letter were Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Gov. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska and Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma.
Separately, Gordon has launched legal challenges to federal mandates requiring certain private employers, health care workers and federal contractors to be vaccinated or undergo testing. Most of those rules have been temporarily put on hold by federal judges while the cases are pending.
