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Biden Doesn’t Have Any Legal Authority to Seize Control of Texas National Guard
Daily Signal ^ | January 27, 2024 | Hans von Spakovsky

Posted on 01/29/2024 6:30:36 AM PST by Red Badger

Texas Democratic politicians, such as Rep. Joaquin Castro and failed gubernatorial and Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, are urging President Joe Biden to seize control of the Texas National Guard, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has mobilized to help secure the Texas border.

Abbott did so in the face of the deliberate and intentional inaction by the Biden administration to make sure the border stays open so millions of illegal aliens could continue to flood across from Mexico.

Under the circumstances, any such move by the president would be an abuse of the applicable law.

A number of federal statutes govern the National Guard, which is the modern equivalent of state militias and a reserve component of our military. Under 10 U.S.C. § 12301(a), the secretary of defense (and thus the president) is given the authority in “time of war or of national emergency declared by Congress, or when otherwise authorized by law” to order National Guard units to active duty.

But they cannot be called to active duty by the president “without the consent of the governor of the State.” If the governor consents, the unit called into federal service under Title 10 reports to the president as the commander in chief while in federal service.

State governors, however, like Abbott, remain the commanders in chief of their state National Guard units, such as the Texas National Guard, unless they have consented to the president’s call for those units to be in active federal service.

The only exception to the consent requirement is contained in subsection (f) and it only applies if National Guard units are needed for active duty for overseas service—such as when we were in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Thus, under this statute, without the consent of Abbott, Biden has no power to simply seize control of the Texas National Guard as he is being urged to do and order them to stand down, since we are not in a war and the Guard is not needed for service abroad.

Biden could go to the extreme by trying to use the Insurrection Act of 1807 to take over the Texas National Guard. The Insurrection Act authorizes the president to federalize the National Guard under certain narrow and exceptional circumstances. The last time it was invoked was by President George W. Bush to help quell the deadly widespread riots in 1992 in Los Angeles after the arrest and beating of Rodney King, when state authorities were unable to cope with the violence and mayhem.

Under 10 U.S.C. § 252, the president can “call into Federal service the militia of any State” when “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any state by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.”

Clearly, there is no insurrection going on in Texas as defined in that law.

Nor is Texas violating any court order issued in “the ordinary court of judicial proceedings.” The state has been placing barbed-wire fencing on state-owned and private property, and no court has ordered Texas to remove or cease installing that fencing.

The only thing that has happened is that the U.S. Supreme Court vacated—while the case between Texas and the federal government is on appeal—an injunction that prevented the feds from removing the fencing. But nothing prevents Texas from continuing to put in more fencing, even after it has been removed.

Biden would also be hard-pressed to legitimately use another part of the Insurrection Act, 10 U.S.C. § 253, which allows a president to use a state militia (the National Guard) if an insurrection or domestic violence “hinders the execution of the laws of that State, and of the United States.”

It is Texas that is trying to ensure that federal laws are being enforced and complied with. And it is the Biden administration that is “hindering” the execution of the laws of the United States with its abject refusal to enforce our immigration laws, to prevent illegal aliens from crossing the border, and its unlawful granting of mass parole to those aliens once they are in the United States.

If Biden tries to call forth the Texas National Guard, the most likely federal statute for him to try to use, according to a source familiar with National Guard operations, is 10 U.S.C. § 12406. This provision allows the president to “call into Federal service” the National Guard under one of three circumstances: an “invasion by a foreign nation”; “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States”; or the president’s inability “with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”

The fatuous argument that Biden would have to make is that Texas is engaged in a rebellion against the authority of the United States or some such other rubbish. But as already noted, there has been no rebellion by Texas and no court order of any kind finding that Texas is somehow violating federal law or refusing to comply with federal courts.

The third precondition obviously also does not apply. A claim that any of these preconditions have been met would be met with derision.

Instead of carrying out his duty as president to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” which includes our immigration laws, Biden has violated his oath of office and is acting like a bully to violate the law, threaten states like Texas that are faced with a desperate situation, and thwart the will of the people who want a secure border and the rising tide of illegal immigration stopped.

If the Biden administration would spend as much time fighting illegal immigration as it does fighting border states that are actually trying to do something about the problem, we might begin to see some progress. But don’t hold your breath.


TOPICS: Government; History; Military/Veterans; Society
KEYWORDS: bidenbordercrisis; border; bordersurge; congress; consent; fjb; gregabbott; invasion; nationalguard; secretary; security; texas
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To: jeffersondem
"Biden has more bayonets than Texas does. Biden could get away with it.

Total active "bayonets" in the various branches of the American military...about 1.328 million. How many of those are combat-ready? How many of those would actually be willing to fire on US citizens? (Number above doesn't include other state's NG.) Just remember...the USA hasn't won a major conflict since WW2. Not to mention...America just got their asses handed to them by a bunch of cave-dwellers in Afghanistan. (Makes me weep.)

Also, how many tens of millions of armed US "bayonets" would travel to Texas to help defend this country?

Has it come to that?

Of course...Joe has F-15s and nukes.

41 posted on 01/29/2024 8:46:38 AM PST by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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To: jimbug

When is the Friday deadline?

EC


42 posted on 01/29/2024 8:49:41 AM PST by Ex-Con777
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To: SJackson

Consent of DC Mayor to call them up.

Consent of the Speaker of the House to assign them to guard the Capitol grounds.


43 posted on 01/29/2024 8:51:27 AM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: telescope115
He can't declare war.

That would be the job of Congress.

44 posted on 01/29/2024 9:01:21 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( In a quaint alleyway, they graciously signaled for a vehicle on the main road to lead the way. )
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To: Macoozie

“So Potato Head has no legal authority to activate/control National Guard units.”

Yes by the letter of the law. However, 5 Supreme Court justices can interpret any law, or the Constitution itself, in any way they wish.


45 posted on 01/29/2024 9:06:47 AM PST by Soul of the South (The past is gone and cannot be changed. Tomorrow can be a better day if we work on it now.)
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To: Soul of the South

“Yes by the letter of the law. However, 5 Supreme Court justices can interpret any law, or the Constitution itself, in any way they wish.”

But then SCOTUS would be wrong, and any plain text unconstitutional edict should be ignored.

that’s checks and balances.

To the states or the people


46 posted on 01/29/2024 10:09:59 AM PST by Macoozie (Roll MAGA, roll!)
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To: Red Badger

Laws? Democrat administration? Biden doesn’t have to refer to any laws if he wishes to call up the Guard. Orders will be issued, and the weekend warriors will get in step or risk losing their retirement points.


47 posted on 01/29/2024 12:06:51 PM PST by damper99
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To: moovova
How many of those would actually be willing to fire on US citizens?

Quite a few, I think.

48 posted on 01/29/2024 12:13:14 PM PST by workerbee (==)
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To: moovova
 
 
And a significant portion of that 1.328 million are in support duty, who likely haven't trained with a weapon since basic and are responsible for supply and support for the small percentage who actually would personally go out in the field and engage any enemy. Percentage of truly capable infantry is rather small. They would be at a distinct disadvantage if FJB ever tried to use them for anything diabolical.
 
 

49 posted on 01/29/2024 2:55:43 PM PST by lapsus calami (What's that stink? Code Pink ! ! And their buddy Murtha, too!)
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To: lapsus calami

“And a significant portion of that 1.328 million are in support duty...”

That’s exactly what I was thinking. Plus, if the military chose to declare “We the people” the enemy...I’d think it would be be a long, unsafe road trip to Texas.


50 posted on 01/29/2024 3:13:49 PM PST by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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To: V_TWIN

Governor Abbott is coming to understand the reality of what we face.

There are a lot of people who throw rocks at him, His background is Legal. And he won many cases against the Fed Gov abuses while he was AG.

He has been a good Governor of Texas.

Some tell me that he is a member of WEF, there evidently must be something on their web site saying so. But his positions on a lot of their stuff has been shifting. It is obvious.


51 posted on 01/29/2024 7:58:23 PM PST by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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