i know the president can nationalize the natioonal guard in emergencies. could the president nationalize the state national guard in order to subvert the will and power of the governor to defend against federal troops?
The nationalization of a state’s National Guard is extremely tricky, and to a great extent cannot be done without the permission of the government.
An excellent, recent example, was when hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi. Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi immediately coordinated with W. Bush to have an ordered response to the disaster in his state; but Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco froze up, and despite repeated entreaties by W. Bush, she just would not do anything.
Importantly, this meant no coordination with state authorities at all, not because she opposed it, just because she didn’t approve it. The feds, even FEMA, just had to sit on Louisiana’s border waiting for permission to enter.
Now granted, *since* then, the US National Guard *Bureau* (note, not “Command”, as such) (federal) has been reorganized somewhat, with the Chief of the National Guard Bureau now sitting on the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the military branches. But the same principal still applies.